NEW YORK — A surge in dividend-rich utility stocks helped push the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to a record Friday.
Investors bought up the stocks after the government reported that U.S. employers added fewer jobs than forecast for August. That boosted demand for bonds and pushed down their yields. In turn, stocks with big dividends became more attractive to investors seeking income-paying securities.
The stock market also got a lift from a cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists, aimed at bringing an end to nearly five months of fighting. Stocks had slumped at the beginning of August amid worries that the conflict in Ukraine would spiral out of control and inflame tensions between Russia and the West.
“That development is a positive,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust. “Further sanctions on Russia, and excluding them from the Western economies, sets global trade back.”
The S&P 500 index rose 10.06 points to 2,007.7, surpassing its previous record close of 2,003.37, set Aug. 29. The index has now logged 33 all-time highs this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 67.78 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,137.36. The Nasdaq composite gained 20.61 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,582.90.
Stocks had started the day lower after a disappointing jobs report.
U.S. employers added 142,000 jobs in August, snapping a six-month streak of hiring above 200,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent, falling because more people without jobs stopped looking for one. Economists had expected employers to add 220,000 jobs.
Many analysts reasoned that, while the report was disappointing, the slowdown in the pace of hiring was not strong enough to suggest that the overall trend had changed. Friday’s news was also at odds with reports this week that showed the economy is still strengthening. Construction and the service industry, for example, were strong.
“I would avoid reading too much into one number,” said Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock. “This is an outlier. … The weight of evidence suggests that the U.S. is going to have a decent third quarter and will be relatively strong going into the end of the year.”
Vertex Pharmaceuticals was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index Friday.
The drugmaker’s stock rose $3.49, or 3.8 percent, to $95.04 after analysts at Goldman Sachs raised their rating on the stock to “buy” from “neutral,” citing the outlook for the company’s cystic fibrosis treatment.
