Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, extending the upward move seen in the previous session. With the continued advance, the Dow and the S&P 500 both ended the session at new record closing highs.

The major averages all ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 229.23 points or 0.7 percent to 34,777.76, the Nasdaq advanced 119.40 points or 0.9 percent to 13,752.24 and the S&P 500 climbed 30.98 points or 0.7 percent to 4,232.60.

Despite the rally seen over the past two sessions, the major averages turned in a mixed performance for the week. The Nasdaq slumped by 1.5 percent, while the Dow surged up by 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.2 percent.

The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected job growth in the month of April.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 266,000 jobs in April after surging by a downwardly revised 770,000 jobs in March.

Economists had expected employment to spike by 978,000 jobs compared to the jump of 916,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the unemployment rate inched up to 6.1 percent in April from 6.0 percent in March, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to drop to 5.8 percent.

Traders reacted positively to the report as the weaker than expected data reinforced the view the Federal Reserve will leave ultra-easy monetary policy in place for the foreseeable future.

Michael Pearce, Senior US Economist at Capital Economics, called the report a "clear reminder that the recovery in the labor market is lagging the rebound in consumption."

For the Fed, we suspect that means it will be a many months before it judges the economy has made 'substantial further progress' towards its 'broad based and inclusive' full employment goal," Pearce said. "That means any talk of tapering, let alone rate hikes, is still some way off."

The data led to a particularly strong upward move by high-growth tech stocks, which are seen as more susceptible to higher interest rates.

(Source:RTT News)