U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 setting a record closing high and all three major indexes posting sizable weekly gains, according to Sina Finance. The Dow rose 151.83 points, or 0.28%, to 54,036.93; the Nasdaq gained 342.26 points, or 1.30%, to 26,690.62; and the S&P 500 climbed 47.68 points, or 0.62%, to 7,757.64.
For the week, the Dow added 2.96%, the Nasdaq rose 5.19%, and the S&P 500 gained 3.58%.
A U.S. government report released Friday showed nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly fell in July, while June figures were revised lower, prompting traders to trim bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike.
Traders now expect about a 12-basis-point hike at the September meeting and a cumulative 30 basis points for the rest of the year, down from 35 basis points priced in at Thursday's close.
Among individual stocks, Airbnb surged 17.4% after the vacation-rental company reported revenue and profit that beat expectations, and Cloudflare rose 5.6% after the cloud networking and security firm issued a solid full-year and current-quarter outlook.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, while June was revised down to a decline of 20,000; the consensus in a Dow Jones survey had called for a gain of 83,000. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, while the labor force participation rate slipped further to 61.4%, the lowest in more than five years. May's final figure was also revised down to 63,000, a reduction of 66,000 from the prior estimate, bringing the 12-month average of job gains to just 34,000.
The declines were led by a loss of 50,000 in local government education and 19,000 in retail, while financial activities shed 14,000. Health care, previously a leading driver of job growth, added 22,000, below its 12-month average of 36,000. Average hourly earnings rose just 2 cents, lowering the 12-month gain to 3.2%, below the 3.5% expected.
Fed policymakers remain divided on the rate path, with several officials recently signaling support for a hike as early as September if price gains do not slow; the FOMC voted 9-3 last week to hold the benchmark rate steady. After the report, the probability of a September hike fell to 44% and an October hike to 58.3%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.