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U.S. stocks make some gains in first week of August after jobs report

Trading indexes rounded out the week mostly up as many economists and analysts raved about significantly better than expected jobs numbers. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Trading indexes rounded out the week mostly up as many economists and analysts raved about significantly better than expected jobs numbers. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 stock indexes rounded out the first week of August trading with some gains after the release of the better-than-expected jobs report.

Data from Nasdaq shows that the index rose about 2.2% this week to 12,657.55 points despite falling about 0.5% in volatile trading on Friday. The S&P 500 still rose about 0.4% in weekly trading after falling about 0.2% on Friday.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.2% on Friday but ultimately fell about 0.1% in the week's trading to 32,803.47 points.

Individual stocks that netted some of the biggest gains Friday include Bed Bath & Beyond and Progyny, a fertility benefits company that covers fertility treatments and provides support for adoption and surrogacy. Progyny's stock rose 35% in morning trading after posting a quarterly profit of $8.8 million.

Stocks that fell in Friday trading include the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery and fuel cell-powered truck maker Hyzon Motors, which disclosed Thursday that its board appointed a special committee to investigate financial issues and operational inefficiencies.

The news came as the Labor Department said in its monthly assessment Friday that the U.S. economy added almost 530,000 jobs during the month of July.

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Most economists projected the report would only show about 250,000 new jobs. The report noted that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% for the month.

Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy noted in a tweet Friday that gas prices have declined for 50 days straight since reaching record-breaking levels in the spring and early summer months. The national average at the pump is now $4.093 per gallon with 21 states below $4 per gallon.

This week's stock performance comes after stocks ended trading last Friday with the largest monthly gains since 2020.

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