Wall Street advances following strong jobs data

JeeYeon Park , CNBC ? ? ? 2 hrs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher, led by McDonald's and DuPont, after closing above 14,300 for the first time in the previous session. The Dow is on track to close up for the 10th consecutive Friday.

Additionally, the index is on track to rise in all five trading days this week, which is has not done since September 2011, even though it's had other winning streaks of that length since then.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also held small gains. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, slid below 13.

Among key S&P sectors, materials gained, while consumer staples turned lower.

The U.S. added 236,000 jobs in February, while unemployment rate tumbled to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, according to the Labor Department, blowing past expectations for a gain of 160,000 and a rate of 7.9 percent.

Investors watch the nonfarm payrolls number as a measure of economic recovery and to discern the Federal Reserve's policy moves. The central bank has said it will maintain its low interest rate rate policy at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent and inflation rises to 2.5 percent. However, the Fed's bond buying will likely stop well ahead of that if the Fed sees signs of sustained growth.

Also on the economic front, wholesale inventories rose 1.2 percent in January, according to the Commerce Department. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, sales at wholesalers declined 0.8 percent, against expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent.

McDonald's said its same-store sales in February dipped 1.5 percent as consumers grew more cautious due to weak economic growth and higher taxes. Still, shares gained as the result beat expectations.

Google edged higher after the Internet giant announced that its Motorola Mobility division will cut another 1,200 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce as the smartphone maker tries to return to profitability.

Among earnings, Foot Locker posted earnings that matched Wall Street expectations, while revenue edged past estimates. Still, shares declined.

Pandora surged after the music-streaming service edged past earnings and revenue expectations and handed in current-quarter and full-year 2014 revenue guidance that were better than Wall Street estimates. In addition, the company said its board has formed a search committee to look for a new CEO. At least six brokerages boosted their price target on the company.

Skullcandy plunged after the headphone maker posted earnings that missed expectations and warned that it expects to see a loss in the first quarter, disappointing analysts who had expected a gain.

Investors will be watching financial stocks on Friday after all but one of the 18 biggest banks in the U.S. passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests. The tests measure the banks' performance and key capital ratios and judge whether banks can return capital to shareholders.

Ally Financial was the only lender that did not pass the minimum capital buffer and Citigroup was called the "most improved" of the banks tested. Citigroup said it had asked the Federal Reserve permission to spend $1.2 billion to buy back its own stock.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped to a new four-and-half-year high in Friday's session, thanks to the yen's decline and revised growth figures showing the Japanese economy stabilized in the fourth quarter of 2012 after two quarters of a shallow recession.

China posted strong trade data which showed exports rising 22 percent in February from a year ago, though imports were weaker than forecast.

In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 Index was higher and Germany's DAX index crossed the 8,000 point mark for the first time since January 2008.

?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wall-street-advances-following-strong-jobs-data-1C8761027

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