In This Article:
- By Julie Young
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,496.30 on Friday with a gain of 572.16 points or 1.85%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,841.94 for a gain of 73.47 points or 1.95%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 12,920.15 for a gain of 196.68 points or 1.55%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 24.66 for a loss of 3.91 points or -13.69%.
For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.8% and the Dow Jones gained 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite reported a weekly loss of approximately 2.1%. For the year, the Dow Jones has a gain of 2.9%, the S&P 500 has a gain of 2.3% and the Nasdaq has a small gain of around 0.2%.
Friday's market movers
U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday to close the week on a high note after three days of losses. All three of the major indexes gained more than 1%. Investors were pleased with the February jobs data, which showed the following:
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Non-farm payrolls up by 379,000 following an increase of 166,000 and beating consensus of 170,000.
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Unemployment rate 6.2%, down from 6.3%.
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Private non-farm payrolls up by 465,000 following an increase of 90,000 and beating the estimate of 180,000.
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Government payrolls down by 86,000 following an increase of 76,000.
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Manufacturing payrolls up by 21,000 following a decrease of 14,000.
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February average hourly earnings increased 0.2% and year-over-year average hourly earnings increased 5.3%.
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Average weekly hours were 34.6, down from 34.9.
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Participation rate unchanged at 61.4%.
In other news:
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California announced reopenings for theme parks and stadiums with some limitations.
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The fate of Covid stimulus remained uncertain into the weekend.
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The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased slightly and the 30-year Treasury yield was basically unchanged.
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The January balance of trade report showed a deficit of $68.2 billion. Exports were $191.9 billion and imports were $260.2 billion.
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The Baker Hughes weekly oil rig count showed one new rig in the U.S, 24 rigs added internationally and a decrease of 22 rigs in Canada.
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Consumer credit outstanding decreased by $1.31 billion in January following an increase of $8.8 billion.
Across the board
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The S&P 500 energy sector led the day's gains with an increase of 3.74%. Oil prices were also higher.
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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) up 2.15% despite news of an email breach and potential loss of a Pentagon contract.
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Disney (NYSE:DIS) up 1.04%.
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) down 3.78%.
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Johnson and Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) up 2.03% with vaccine approval in Canada.