Stocks rose on Friday as investors weighed a mixed jobs report, which may signal policy makers to continue their current loose monetary policy. Market participants remain optimistic towards U.S. economic recovery, boosting the S&P 500 close to it's all-time record high.
All major benchmarks posted modest gains for the week. The Dow and S&P 500 were up about 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, for their second straight week of gains. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by about 0.5% for the week, posting its third positive week in a row.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Facebook announced Trump will be suspended from platfrom until at least 2023:
Facebook
"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump's suspension, we believe his actions constituted a serve violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols," Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs for Facebook, wrote in a press statement. "We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the data of the initial suspension on January 7 this year."
Here's how the market started trading soon after market open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.56% or +23.59 points to 4,216.40
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.23% or +77.97 points to 34,655.01
Nasdaq Composite Index: +1.01% or +137.26 points to 13,751.87
May jobs report shows major improvement, mixed on expectations:
The U.S. economy added back another more than half a million jobs in May, but fell short of consensus expectations. However, the unemployment rate dropped to a new pandemic-era low as restrictions continue to ease throughout the country.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 559,000 in May, according to the Labor Department, up from April's upwardly revised total of 278,000 jobs. Altogether, the U.S. economy is about 7 million jobs under its pre-pandemic levels from February 2020. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate decreased to 5.8% from 6.1% in April, a new pandemic-era low.