Stocks rebounded on Friday from the week's lows as market participants were encouraged by March's stronger-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 300 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite advanced roughly 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.11% or +57.13 points to 5,204.34
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.80% or +307.06 points to 38,904.04
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.24% or +199.44 points to 16,248.52
Moving Markets: The Labor Department's highly anticipated non-farm payrolls report for March came in at a much-more-than-expected 303,000 additions with the unemployment rate ticking lower to 3.8%. The headline report was a jump from February's downwardly revised gain of 270,000 and well above the Dow Jones estimate for a rise of 200,000 for the month.
Job growth was seen across multiple sectors including health care (72,000), government (71,000), leisure and hospitality (49,000), construction (39,000), retail trade (18,000) and other services (16,000).
Zoom Out: Despite Friday's gains, all three major market averages fell for the week, with the Dow posting its worst weekly performance of the year. The 30-stock index lost nearly 2.3%, while the S&P 500 declined about 1% and the Nasdaq lost 0.8%.
In the News: McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) announced Friday the global burger chain has signed a dal to purchase all 225 of the restaurants within its Israel franchise following months of lower sales due to pro-Palestinian boycott action. The restaurants have been owned by local licensee Alonyal Ltd for more than three decades.
"An agreement to sell Alonyal to McDonald's Corporation has been signed," the company said in a statement Thursday. "Upon completion of the transaction, McDonald's Corporation will own Alonyal Limited's restaurants and operations, and employees will be retained on equivalent terms."
For Next Week:
Market participants will continue to assess the Federal Reserve's potential next moves ahead of the start of the second-quarter earnings season on Friday.