Friday's Stock Market Close: S&P, Nasdaq Climb To Record Highs On Strong Jobs Report

A strong jobs report sent the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 into record territory Friday as investors put aside worries about a China trade deal

The S&P 500 set its third record this week, adding 29 points to close at 3,066. Nasdaq added 94 points to close at a record 8,386. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 300 points to close at 27,347, up more than 200 points for the week.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 3.2 billion shares with 2,062 issues advancing, 178 setting new highs, and 895 declining, 23 setting new lows.

Fitbit Inc. (FIT) led the most actives on word it would be acquired by Google (GOOG), which is lagging in the wearables sector. Fitbit gained 15%. Also topping the most actives were Pinterest Inc. (PINS), which posted disappointing third-quarter results, and General Electric (GE).

U.S. payrolls gained 128,000 jobs in October despite a strike by 46,000 members of the United Autoworkers against General Motors that covered the entire month. The unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 point from September to 3.6%. Average hourly earnings were up 3% compared with October of last year.

Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated the labor market remained healthy, with employers adding an average 167,000 jobs a month this year, down from last year’s 233,000 average.

Moody’s Capital Markets chief economist John Lonski said the U.S. might be enjoying a “Goldilocks” economy – strong enough to ease recession fears but weak enough to keep the Federal Reserve from increasing interest rates.

Google announced Friday it would acquire Fitbit to help it “create tools that help enhance their knowledge, success, health and happiness.” The $2.1 billion deal was announced in a blog post by Rich Osterloh, Google senior vice president of devices and services. Fitbit said in a press release it takes consumer trust seriously and will work to maintain strict privacy and security guidelines.

Pinterest shares plunged 17% after it reported a $124.7 million loss for the third quarter late Thursday. It also missed revenue estimates.

Exxon Mobil Corp. ( XOM) blamed weaker global oil and gas prices cut into profits and revenue. The Texas energy giant reported third-quarter earnings of $3.17 billion or 75 cents a share compared with $6.25 billion or $1.46 a share in the year ago quarter. Revenue fell to $65,05 billion from $76.61.

Global markets were mostly higher.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.72% higher and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.99%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.33%. Australia’s S&P/ASX added 0.09%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.74% higher while the German DAX gained 0.82% and the French CAC 40 added 0.64%.

The British pound was off 0.02% at $1.294 while the euro gained 0.12% at $1.1166. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.16%

Oil futures were mised. Crude oil gained 3.47% at $56.06 a barrel while Brent crude slipped 0.15% to $61.61. Gold and silver futures were higher. Gold gained 0.03% to $1,515.20 an ounce while silver added 0.21% to $18.10 an ounce.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury note lost 2/32, pushing its yield to 1.714%. The 30-year note lost 5/32, pushing its yield to 2.202%.