The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,504.95 on Friday with a gain of 197.16 points or 0.75%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,945.64 for a gain of 28.12 points or 0.96%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,164.00 for a gain of 127.22 points or 1.58%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 12.87 for a loss of 1.55 points or -10.75%.
For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained 0.06%, while the Dow Jones was down -0.22%. For the year, the Nasdaq is up 23%, the S&P 500 is up 17.5% and the Dow Jones has a gain of 13.6%.
Friday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes rebounded on Friday following a strong April jobs report that beat economists’ expectations. Payrolls increased by 263,000 in April, beating the estimate of 178,000. The unemployment rate decreased to 3.6% from 3.8%. Also, average hourly earnings increased 0.2% in April and 3.2% year over year.
In Treasuries, prices also rebounded from a Thursday selloff. The longer end of the Treasury yield curve saw prices increase. The 30-year bond reported the biggest price increase at 7/32 with a yield of 2.920%.
Friday also marked the end of a busy first-quarter earnings week with the day’s calendar mostly light. According to CNBC, 75% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, so earnings reports will likely have less impact on the market in the weeks ahead. Top stock gainers for the quarter are Ford (F) and JPMorgan (JPM). The top earnings stock losses are from Intel (INTC, Financial), Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Caterpillar (CAT, Financial).
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Non-farm payrolls increased 263,000 in April, beating the estimate of 178,000.
- The unemployment rate decreased to 3.6% in April from 3.8%.
- Average hourly earnings increased 0.2% in April and 3.2% year over year.
- The goods trade balance showed a deficit of -$71.45 in March.
- Wholesale inventories were unchanged in March.
- The Markit Services PMI decreased to 53.0 in April from 55.3.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI decreased to 55.5 in April from 56.1.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 2.80%
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 2.35%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 2.15%
- American Express (AXP, Financial) 1.98%
- McDonald's (MCD, Financial) 1.56%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,614.02 for a gain of 31.37 points or 1.98%. The S&P 600 closed at 989.22 for a gain of 20.12 points or 2.08%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,246.64 for a gain of 190.37 points or 1.89%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,927.16 for a gain of 191.04 points or 1.96%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,980.83 for a gain of 27.96 points or 1.43%; the S&P 100 at 1,306.72 for a gain of 13.84 points or 1.07%; the Russell 3000 at 1,737.95 for a gain of 18.32 points or 1.07%; the Russell 1000 at 1,632.47 for a gain of 16.10 points or 1.00%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,460.76 for a gain of 333.27 points or 1.11%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 721.48 for a gain of 7.98 points or 1.12%.
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