Stocks Ended Mixed Friday, Weekly Gains

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, but managed to post their longest period of weekly advances since late last year, on the heels of a stronger-than-expected October jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 46.90 points, or 0.26%, to 17,910.33 and finished 1.4% higher for the week. The S&P 500 was off 0.73 point, or 0.03%, to 2,099.20 and posted a nearly 1% weekly gain. The Nasdaq Composite gained 19 points, or 0.38%, to 5,147.12, securing a weekly gain of 1.9%.

The Labor Department said the economy added 271,000 jobs in October, the biggest gain this year, while the unemployment rate fell to 5%, and hourly wages rose at the fastest year-over-year pace since 2009.

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) is exploring a sale of its enterprise assets which could be worth as much as $10 billion, as the largest U.S. wireless carrier seeks to focus on its core business. The sale would include the business formerly known as MCI, which provides landline and Internet services for large business customers, as well as Terremark, its data centre unit.

President Barack Obama says he’s rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline because he does not believe it serves the national interest.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. late Friday said its third-quarter operating earnings fell to $4.55 billion from $4.72 billion a year earlier. On a per share basis, Berkshire Hathaway earned $2,769 versus $2,876.