U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday after a much weaker-than-expected July jobs report raised hopes the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady for longer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 151.83 points, or 0.3%, to 54,036.93, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 342.26 points, or 1.3%, to 26,690.62, and the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 7,757.64. The Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, far below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 82,000, while the unemployment rate came in at 4.1% versus the 4.8% estimate. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 3.58%, the Nasdaq jumped 5.19%, and the Dow added 2.96%.
