Stocks Ended Mostly Higher Friday and Gained for the Week

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher on Friday and capped a positive week with small gains, following a weaker-than-expected August jobs report and remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.31 points, or 0.26%, to 26,797.46. The S&P 500 added 2.71 points, or 0.09%, to 2,978.71. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 13.75 points, or 0.17%, to 8,103.07. For the week, the Dow notched a 1.5% rise, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose 1.8% over the period.

Oil futures reversed course to finish higher on Friday, with a third-weekly decline in the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil contributing to a price rise for the week. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery tacked on 22 cents, or 0.4%, settle at $56.52 a barrel and saw a weekly gain of 2.6%. November Brent crude rose 59 cents, or 1%, to end at $61.54 a barrel. It tallied a weekly rise of 3.9%.

The U.S. economy added 130,000 nonfarm payrolls in August, which was fewer-than the 160,000 payroll additions expected by economists. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. July’s employment figure was revised to 159,000, down from the 164,000 positions previously reported.

Fed Chair Powell spoke in Zurich on the “Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy” Friday afternoon. He described the economy and labor market as healthy.