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Stocks rose to record levels on Friday, notching another weekly advance, as traders shook off a disappointing U.S. jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials continued their surge, rising 248.74 points to 30,218.26. Chevron added 3.9% and Caterpillar rose 4.3%, to lead the Dow higher.
The S&P 500 picked up 32.4 points to 3,699.12. Energy was the best-performing S&P 500 sector, gaining 5.4%.
The NASDAQ gathered 87.05 points to 12,464.23. All three of major indexes posted intraday and closing record highs.
Friday’s jump led major averages to for their fourth weekly gain in five weeks. The Dow rose 1% this week. The S&P 500 gained 1.7% over that time period. The NASDAQ rallied 2.2% this week.
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.
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 40 cents to $46.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid 30 cents to $1,840.80.
