SAN FRANCISCO — Stocks kicked off the beginning of the second quarter with moderate gains Friday, pushing the major indexes to their second straight weekly rise, after a report on jobs growth underpinned optimism on the U.S. economy.
After tallying its largest first-quarter percentage gain in 12 years, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 56.99 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 12,376.72. It touched an intraday high of 12,419.71, its highest intraday level since June 6, 2008.
Benchmark indexes started their climb after the U.S. government reported that employers added more jobs than anticipated in March, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell.
“Stocks had pretty good gains on the jobs number, on the potential for recovery in economy,” said Todd Colvin, vice president at MF Global. Stocks eased off their session highs as the day wore on, a moderation likely related to a more cautious stance ahead of the weekend.
Investors have learned over the past few months that world events can change quickly after Wall Street shuts down, Colvin said.
“Each weekend brings new risks,” he said. “The market likes to take a breather on the weekends, and it’s the prudent thing to do. If the market continues to rally, you are giving up a little to save a lot.”
On the Dow, Caterpillar and General Electric led an advance in shares of 23 out of 30 index components. The index gained 1.3 percent last week and logged its largest two-week point and percentage gain since June 18.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 6.58 points to close at 1,332.41, with industrials and financials leading sector gains among the benchmark’s 10 industry groups.
The Nasdaq composite gained 8.53 points to close at 2,789.60 for a weekly gain of 1.7 percent.
Stocks also gained after comments by New York Fed President William Dudley, who rejected any near-term need for a change in the central bank’s monetary policy known as quantitative easing.
“QE2 is not going away,” said Max Bublitz, chief markets strategist at SCM Advisors. “We all expected dovish Fed speak from Dudley, and we got it, which kind of tempered the other hawks we’ve heard from recently.”
