NEW YORK — Stocks leaped Friday, propelling the Nasdaq index to an 11-year high, as Wall Street embraced the nation’s jobless rate dropping to a three-year low.
The day’s broad gains capped a strong week for stocks, with two indexes rallying for the fifth straight week.
“The U.S. economy is moving in the right direction,” said Mark Coffelt, portfolio manager of the Empiric Core Equity Fund.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 156.82 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,862.23, its highest close since May 2008. Of its 30 components, 28 rose, led by a 5.2 percent gain in Bank of America shares.
The S&P 500 index rose 19.36 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,344.90, its best day since the first trading session of the year. Financials led the rise among its 10 major sectors, all of which closed higher.
For the year, the S&P 500 has risen nearly 7 percent — its best start since 1987.
Reaching a level not hit since December 2000, the Nasdaq composite closed up 45.98 points, or 1.6 percent, to 2,905.66.
The Dow rose 1.6 percent for the week, which included the end of January — the best January, on a percentage basis, for the index since 1997.
The S&P 500 gained 2.2 percent for the week and the Nasdaq composite rose 3.2 percent, both the fifth straight week of gains.
Shares of Micron Technology were halted after the semiconductor company said its chairman and chief executive, Steve Appleton, 51, had died in a small-plane accident in Boise, Idaho. Micron chief operating office Mark Durcan had last week said he would retire at the end of August. The company is based in Boise.
Crude-oil futures gained $1.48 to end at $97.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices of crude down 1.7 percent on the week.
Gold futures declined $19 to settle at $1,740.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex, with the precious metal up 0.5 percent from the week-ago close.
