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:
- Non-farm payrolls up by 379,000 following an increase of 166,000 and beating consensus of 170,000.
- Unemployment rate 6.2%, down from 6.3%.
- Private non-farm payrolls up by 465,000 following an increase of 90,000 and beating the estimate of 180,000.
- Government payrolls down by 86,000 following an increase of 76,000.
- Manufacturing payrolls up by 21,000 following a decrease of 14,000.
- February average hourly earnings increased 0.2% and year-over-year average hourly earnings increased 5.3%.
- Average weekly hours were 34.6, down from 34.9.
- Participation rate unchanged at 61.4%.
In other news:
- California announced reopenings for theme parks and stadiums with some limitations.
- The fate of Covid stimulus remained uncertain into the weekend.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased slightly and the 30-year Treasury yield was basically unchanged.
- The January balance of trade report showed a deficit of $68.2 billion. Exports were $191.9 billion and imports were $260.2 billion.
- 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.
- Consumer credit outstanding decreased by $1.31 billion in January following an increase of $8.8 billion.
Across the board
- The S&P 500 energy sector led the day's gains with an increase of 3.74%. Oil prices were also higher.
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) up 2.15% despite news of an email breach and potential loss of a Pentagon contract.
- Disney (DIS, Financial) up 1.04%.
- Tesla (TSLA, Financial) down 3.78%.
- Johnson and Johnson (JNJ, Financial) up 2.03% with vaccine approval in Canada.
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,192.21 for a gain of 45.29 points or 2.11%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,302.12 for a gain of 29.85 points or 2.35%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,450.43 for a gain of 229.00 points or 1.61%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 10,708.89 for a gain of 281.79 points or 2.70%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,512.92 for a gain of 59.62 points or 2.43%; the S&P 100 at 1,743.71 for a gain of 29.94 points or 1.75%; the Nasdaq 100 at 12,668.51 for a gain of 204.51 points or 1.64%; the Russell 3000 at 2,310.97 for a gain of 42.95 points or 1.89%; the Russell 1000 at 2,167.79 for a gain of 39.95 points or 1.88%; the Wilshire 5000 at 40,351.00 for a gain of 750.64 points or 1.90%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 784.98 for a gain of 20.34 points or 2.66%.
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