NEW YORK -- Led by technology companies, U.S. stocks rose Friday after a strong February jobs report. Most parts of the market moved higher as investors wait for the Federal Reserve to meet next week. The central bank is almost universally expected to raise interest rates.
The jobs report was a bit better than investors expected, but they had assumed it would show employers are adding jobs at a solid clip. They had also anticipated since last week that the Fed will raise interest rates Wednesday, and the data did nothing to challenge that. Technology, industrial and health care companies climbed while energy companies missed out on the rally as oil prices continued to fall.
"It was a solid report all around that reinforces that the economy is on solid footing," said Sameer Samana, a strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Samana said investors are glad to see continued hiring and more people seeking work, but they're also glad the economy isn't gaining strength too quickly. That might force the Fed to raise interest rates faster, with uncertain effects on the economy.
"If they go too quickly or raise rates too many times, there's a risk we'll find ourselves in a downturn," he said.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.73 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,372.60. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 44.79 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,902.98. The Nasdaq composite added 22.92 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,861.73.
Stocks had mostly fallen since March 1, the day indexes soared to their most recent record highs.
Overall it was a slow week for stocks. The current bull market had its eighth anniversary, but six-week winning streaks for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended, and the Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks took its biggest loss in three months.
U.S. employers added 235,000 jobs in February, according to the Department of Labor. The gains in hiring and pay, along with higher consumer and business confidence since the November election, could lift spending and investment in coming months and accelerate economic growth.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.58 percent from 2.61 percent. The dip in bond yields and interest rates pushed banks lower while big-dividend stocks went higher.
Oil prices moved lower for the fifth day in a row. Benchmark U.S. oil dipped another 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $48.49 a barrel in New York. After small losses early in the week, the price of U.S. crude dropped 9 percent over the past three days after the government reported a big increase in stockpiles. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 82 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $51.37 a barrel in London.
The dollar inched up to 114.78 yen from 114.74 yen. The euro rose to $1.0692 from $1.0586.
Gold fell $1.80 to $1,201.40 an ounce. That small decline was the ninth in a row for the precious metal. Silver slipped 11 cents to $16.92 an ounce. Copper gained 2 cents to $2.60 a pound.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline gave up 2 cents to $1.60 a gallon. Heating oil shed 3 cents to $1.50 a gallon. Natural gas gained 3 cents to $3 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The CAC 40 in France rose 0.4 percent, and the FTSE 100 index in Britain picked up 0.2 percent. Germany's DAX dipped 0.1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5 percent as the dollar surged against the yen, favoring manufacturers. South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index added 0.3 percent.
Business on 03/11/2017