Stocks rose higher on Friday as December's positive labor market reading helped carry the broader market to a winning week.
The S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) rose 0.65% to reach a fresh closing high of 6,966.28 on Friday, after notching an intraday high earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) also closed at a new high, rising over 230 points to settle at 49,504.07. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: QQQ) outperformed its peers on Friday, rising over 0.8% to end the day at 23,671.34.
All three major averages posted gains for the first week of the year, as the Dow jumped 2.3% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose about 1% and 2%, respectively.
Boosting market optimism, nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 in December, the Labor Department reported Friday, coming in lower than November's downwardly revised print of 56,000, but demonstrated that the U.S. economy is remaining stable. The unemployment rate also ticked lower to 4.4%, coming below economists' forecasts.
The monthly report was the first unaffected by the U.S. government shutdown, which impacted the Bureau of Labor Statistics' reporting for October and November.
Consumer sentiment marginally improved in early January, even as Americans remained concerned over rising prices and a tight labor market. The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index came in at 54.0, rising by 1.1 points from December's final reading.
"Improvements in January were seen among lower-income consumers, while sentiment fell for those with higher incomes. All told, while consumers perceived some modest improvement in the economy over the past two months, their sentiment remains nearly 25% below last January's reading," said Joanne Hsu, director of the Survey of Consumers, in a statement. "Although consumers' worries about tariffs appear to be gradually receding, they remain guarded about the overall strength of business conditions and labor markets."
Elsewhere, shares of mortgage lenders climbed higher on Friday after President Donald Trump called for "representatives" to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds in effort to reduce rates. Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) soared to a new intraday high, while UWM Holdings (NYSE: UWMC), Penny Mac Financial Services (NYSE: PFSI), Better Home & Finance (NASDAQ: BETR), Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ: OPEN) also rallied higher.