U.S. market indexes were higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,329.16 for a gain of 117.68 or 0.49%. The S&P 500 Index closed at 2,651.50 for a gain of 14.52 points or 0.55%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,840.08 for a gain of 27.24 points or 0.40%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 9.57 for a loss of -0.59 points or -5.81%.
For the week, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones gained 0.40%. The Nasdaq Composite was down -0.10% for the week.
Friday’s market movers
A positive jobs report helped stocks to gain on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reported new closing highs.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The November Employment Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an increase of 228,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.
- Consumer sentiment decreased to 96.8 from 98.5.
- Wholesale inventories were down -0.5% in October.
- The Baker Hughes rig count decreased to 1,150 from 1,151.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 2.02%
UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) 1.71%
JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 1.25%
In the broad market, health care and energy stocks led gains. Technology stocks also gained with the S&P 500 technology sector up 0.47%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,521.72 for a gain of 1.26 points or 0.08%. The S&P 600 Index closed at 928.11 for a loss of -0.42 points or -0.05%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,310.16 for a gain of 29.12 points or 0.31%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,208.01 for a gain of 1.49 points or 0.01%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,890.86 for a gain of 7.36 points or 0.39%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,170.82 for a gain of 6.22 points or 0.53%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,569.36 for a gain of 8.01 points or 0.51%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,469.31 for a gain of 8.01 points or 0.55%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 705.75 for a gain of 4.34 points or 0.62%.
