U.S. market indexes traded higher on Friday to end the week with gains. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18146.74 for a gain of 250.86 points or 1.40 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2129.90 for a gain of 32.00 points or 1.53 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 4956.76 for a gain of 79.95 points or 1.64 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.27 for a loss of -1.49 points or -10.09 percent.

For the week the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 1.08 percent. The S&P 500 was higher by 1.27 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.92 percent.

Friday’s Market Movers

The labor market employment data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday was the leading focus for the day’s trading. The jobs report showed an increase of 287,000 jobs which beat consensus of 180,000. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.9 percent.

Two other reports were also on the calendar for the day. The Baker-Hughes Rig Count which showed the number of rigs increasing by 14 from the previous week to 521. Also reported on Friday was the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Credit report which showed consumer credit increasing by $18.6 billion from the previous month.

Stocks trading actively on Friday included Bank of America, Ford, General Electric, Citigroup, Apple, Chesapeake Energy, Microsoft and Alcoa.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led the day’s gains:

Gains (percent)

Visa 3.19

Caterpillar 3.09

DuPont 2.86

American Express 2.81

JPMorgan 2.72

Top sectors for the broad market were materials, industrial and financial. Technology stocks were also higher for the day. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 4956.76 for a gain of 79.95 points or 1.64 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was higher at 4528.36 for a gain of 68.78 points or 1.54 percent. Stocks leading gains in technology included the following:

Gains (percent)

Viacom 5.02

Liberty Global 4.68

NVIDIA Corp. 4.01

Biomarin Pharmaceutical 3.78

In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.78 points or 0.60 percent. The dollar traded higher for the day with the U.S. Dollar Index at 96.27 for a gain of 0.01 points or 0.01 percent.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed higher for the day at 1177.36 for a gain of 27.60 points or 2.40 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 722.40 for a gain of 16.84 points or 2.39 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7218.39 for a gain of 152.34 points or 2.16 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8468.42 for a gain of 165.87 points or 2.00 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1520.42 for a loss of 27.82 points or 1.86 percent; the S&P 100 closing at 942.25 for a gain of 12.91 points or 1.39 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1255.97 for a gain of 19.85 points or 1.61 percent; the Russell 1000 closing at 1179.15 for a gain of 17.91 points or 1.54 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 615.80 for a gain of 8.01 points or 1.32 percent.