Stocks Ends Week With Gains

U.S. stocks rose modestly higher on Friday to notch a fourth week of gains for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, after the February jobs report bolstered hopes that the economic recovery is on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.08 points, or 0.11%, to 12,922.02, leaving it off 0.4% for the week. The S&P 500 climbed 4.96 points, or 0.36%, to 1,370.87, up nearly 0.1% from the week-ago close. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 17.92 points, or 0.60%, to 2,988.34, a weekly gain of 0.4%.

The U.S. created 227,000 jobs in February and more people found work in the prior two months than initially reported, the government said Friday. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3% as nearly half-a-million workers re-entered the labor force in search of jobs, the Labor Department reported.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said Friday that the Greek government’s use of collective-action clauses, or CACs, to amend to terms of Greece-issued bonds qualifies as a “credit event” for Greece. The Greek government moved a step closer to securing a much-needed second bailout on Friday, announcing 83.5% of its private-sector bondholders agreed to a bond-swap deal, with expectations that proportion would rise.

Shares in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc tumbled 14 percent on Friday, on fears that it may lose its near monopoly in the U.S. single-cup coffee market after partner Starbucks Corp outlined plans to launch a rival coffee and espresso machine.

Crude-oil futures ended higher Friday, notching a weekly gain as better-than-expected data on U.S. employment in February lifted prospects for oil demand. Crude-oil futures for April delivery (NMN:CLJ2)  rose 82 cents, or 0.8%, to end at $107.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.