Boosted by the better-than-expected report, the Dow marched up to a fresh intraday record of 17,991.19 points around midday, within striking distance of the 18,000-point mark. The S&P 500 also touched a refresh all-time high of 2,079.47 points.
At the close, the Dow rallied 58.69 points, or 0.33 percent, to a record closing high of 17,958.79. The S&P 500 also closed at a new record of 2,075.37 points, up 3.45 points, or 0.17 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.32 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,780.75.
Total nonfarm payroll employment added 321,000 in November, the largest gain since January 2012, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.
The latest nonfarm payroll employment far exceeded analysts’ expectations of a 230,000 jump and an average monthly gain of 224, 000 over the past 12 months.
After hitting session highs around noon, the stock market gave off part of early gains in the afternoon session, as some investors locked in gains amid intensified speculations that the Federal Reserve would raise rates next year given the strengthening of the employment market.
Falling crude prices also put a damper on the stock market, with the energy sector the biggest laggard.
Moreover, U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services narrowed slightly to 43.4 billion U.S. dollars in October from the revised 43.6 billion dollars in September, said the Commerce Department.
New orders for U.S. manufactured goods in October unexpectedly decreased 0.7 percent, the department said in a separate report Friday.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 marked a seven-week gaining streak, up 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent. However, the Nasdaq went down 0.2 percent in the week.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, slipped 4.52 percent to finish at 11.82 on Friday.
In other markets, the dollar rose against other major currencies, as the optimistic nonfarm payrolls report bolstered market speculation that the Fed may raise interest rates before mid-2015, which well supported the dollar during the session.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2284 dollars from 1.2365 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought 121. 45 Japanese yen, higher than 119.86 yen of the previous session.
Oil prices dropped as Saudi Arabia lowered its official selling price to Asia.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. extended a discount of 2 dollars a barrel below the original benchmark to Asian clients, the largest Saudi oil company said Thursday.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 97 cents to settle at 65.84 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 57 cents to close at 69.07 dollars a barrel.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell below the key level of 1,200 dollars Friday as the dollar index hit a fresh five-year high on an upbeat employment report.
The most active gold contract for February delivery lost 17.3 dollars, or 1.43 percent, to settle at 1,190.4 dollars per ounce.