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Stocks rose emphatically on Friday as traders pored through the latest U.S. jobs report, putting the major averages on pace for another weekly advance.
The Dow Jones Industrials continued their surge, rising 181.21 points to 30,150.73. Chevron and Caterpillar rose more than 2% each to lead the Dow higher.
The S&P 500 picked up 25.18 points to 3,691.90. Energy was the best-performing S&P 500 sector, gaining 3.7%.
The NASDAQ gathered 64.82 points to 12,442.
The U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November, well below a Dow Jones consensus estimate of 440,000. The unemployment rate, however, matched expectations by falling to 6.7% from 6.9%.
Friday’s report comes as the number of coronavirus cases has been rising sharply. The U.S. reported record numbers on Thursday of new infections, single-day deaths and hospitalizations.
On Thursday, the stock market was hit by a report suggesting troubles with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine rollout. Major averages swiftly fell to their session lows after Dow Jones reported said Pfizer expects to ship half of the Covid-19 vaccines it originally planned for this year due to supply-chain problems.
Still, Pfizer and BioNtech are on track to roll out 1.3 billion vaccines in 2021 and the 50-million-dose shortfall this year will be covered as production ramps up, the report said.
The major averages were on pace to post their fourth weekly gain in five weeks. Entering Friday’s session, the Dow was up 0.2%, and the S&P 500 had gained 0.8%. The NASDAQ had risen 1.4% this week through Thursday’s close.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury slumped, raising yields to 0.97% from Thursday’s 0.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved up 51 cents to $46.15 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were down $4.10 to $1,837.
