Stocks advanced on Friday after an expectation-defying jobs report gave investors confidence around the health of the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 5,751.07, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.22% to 18,137.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 341.16 points, or 0.81%, to notch an all-time closing high of 42,352.75.

Stocks rallied after data showed nonfarm payrolls grew by 254,000 jobs in September, far outpacing the forecasted gain of 150,000 from economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% despite expectations for it to hold steady at 4.2%.

"After a summer of weak labor data readings, this is a reassuring reading that the U.S. economy remains resilient, supported by a healthy labor market," said Michelle Cluver, head of ETF model portfolios at Global X. "We remain in an environment where good economic news is good news for the equity market as it increases the potential for a soft landing."

Tesla, Amazon and Netflix were among the megacap tech names climbing on Friday, which can help explain the Nasdaq's outperformance. Financials were the top sector in the S&P 500 during the session, surging 1.6% and closing at a record. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo jumped more than 3% each.

On the other end of the spectrum, small cap stocks also rallied, with the Russell 2000 up 1.5%.

Friday's bounce erased losses seen in recent days. Mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East gave way to a shaky start in October for stocks, a turn after the market posted an unusually strong first nine months of the year.

The S&P 500 finished up 0.22% on the week, while the Dow inched higher by 0.09%. The Nasdaq added 0.1% for the week, a major turnaround given the tech-heavy index came into Friday's session down more than 1%.

Crude oil prices rose again on Friday, bringing the weekly gain to around 9%. Oil has been pushed higher as a result of intensifying conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel.

Energy stocks have jumped this week as oil rallied, with the S&P 500 sector up 7%. That marked the group's best week since October 2022.

Stocks finish Friday higher, eke out weekly gains

The three major averages rose on Friday, propelling them into the green for the week.

The Dow added 0.8% in the session, finishing the week up just about 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.1% in the week, boosted by a 1.2% rally on Friday. The S&P 500 added 0.9% in the session to finish the week up 0.2%.

— Alex Harring

What investors should expect next week: Inflation data, Fed minutes and more

The next week will bring closely watched inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting. A handful of major corporate earnings reports are also due.

CNBC Pro subscribers can click here to see all there is to know for investors about next week.

— Alex Harring

BlackRock's Rick Rieder sees small rate cuts with Fed Funds rate still 'abnormally high'

Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, believes the Federal Reserve will move forward with small rate cuts in light of Friday's stellar jobs report.

"We think that the rate descent should continue, but with today's strong data it's more likely that the Fed will move in 25 basis point (bps) cut increments, and not the near term 50 bps cuts the market had been pricing in," the widely followed strategist said in a note.

He believes the Fed Funds rate still looks "abnormally high" even with the first rate cut in the books.

— Yun Li

The bond market remains ahead of the Fed after Friday's jobs report and leaves forward path of rates in question, says Madison Investments

Friday's better-than-expected jobs report still leaves Wall Street with questions toward the Federal Reserve's forward path, according to Madison Investments head of fixed income Mike Sanders.

"The September jobs report showed broad-based strength in the labor market. If this momentum continues, the Fed is likely to follow its dot plot as a guide for future rate cuts," Sanders said. "However, the bond market remains ahead of the Fed, and this report raises further doubts about the market's expected rate trajectory through 2025."

— Brian Evans

'I'm more bullish today than I was yesterday,' wealth manager says

Friday's jobs report can bolster Wall Street's bulls, according to Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management.

"This morning's report is good for stocks, and the economy continues to show incredible resilience," Bolvin said after the data was released on Friday. "I'm more bullish today than I was yesterday — and I was a bull then."

Bolvin joined a chorus of market participants saying the data lowers the likelihood for another interest rate cut of 50 basis points from the Federal Reserve. But she said that doesn't impact her optimism on stocks heading into year-end and 2025.

— Alex Harring

Bitcoin flipping in and out of ‘bear’ mode but could still reach $100,000 this year

Bitcoin investors are grappling with a demand dearth that has pushed the cryptocurrency into bear market territory at times. But analysts are still confident the cryptocurrency can reach new records by the end of the year.

A recent reawakening of demand for bitcoin ETFs is a positive sign for the price in the medium term – but demand for the cryptocurrency that backs those funds is stagnant and badly needs a boost if bitcoin is going to hit new records, according to CryptoQuant. It's currently 18% off an all-time high it hit in March. The data firm said it could reach between $85,000 and $100,000 this quarter.

The fourth quarter of a bitcoin bull cycle tends to see huge gains, especially in a halving year. In the fourth quarters of 2012, 2016, and 2020 — the previous Bitcoin halving years — bitcoin prices rose by 9%, 59%, and 171%, respectively. The most recent halving — the supply cutting event that takes place every four years — happened this April.

Bitcoin rose nearly 2% to $61,978.89 on Friday after the September jobs report, giving a lift to Coinbase and MicroStrategy, which were last higher by 3% and 6%, respectively.

For more on the state of bitcoin demand read our full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

Materials and real estate stocks weigh S&P 500 lower this week

On Friday afternoon, the S&P 500 was tracking for a 0.2% loss on the week.

The materials and real estate sectors were the index's laggards, and were on pace for a 2.5% and 2% weekly loss, respectively.

This would mark the biggest one-week loss for the materials sector since last month, when it dropped 4.8%. It'd be the largest weekly loss for the real estate sector since May, when it dropped 3.7%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Abercrombie ready to rebound, JPMorgan says. Shares jump 8%

It's been a wild ride for Abercrombie & Fitch shares this year. Although the stock has tallied a giant 60% gain this year, shares have tumbled nearly 20% over the past three months. JPMorgan expects the teen apparel retailer can turn it around, as its brand gained in popularity over the back-to-school season, and added it to the firm's positive catalyst watch list. Shares are trading up more than 8% on the news.

JPMorgan's Matthew Boss raised his price target by $1 to $195, which suggests about 45% upside from Thursday's close. That would put the stock a touch below its 52-week high.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Nasdaq outperforms as Wall Street pops on strong jobs report

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped about 1% to lead the major averages higher after Friday's blockbuster jobs report. That gain puts the benchmark on track for its biggest one-day advance since Sept. 12.

Nvidia and Netflix popped more than 1% to boost the Nasdaq. Amazon also contributed to the gain with a 2.2% advance.

— Fred Imbert

Small caps see outsized gains

Small-cap stocks saw unique strength in Friday's trading session.

The Russell 2000 climbed more than 1% in afternoon trading. By comparison, the broad S&P 500 was up just around 0.5%.

Despite Friday's advance, the Russell 2000 is still tracking to end the week down about 0.8%.

— Alex Harring

Crude oil set for more than 9% weekly gain on Mideast war fears

U.S. crude oil rose nearly 1% on Friday, extending this week's gains on the risk that war in the Middle East will disrupt supplies.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate added 64 cents to $74.35 per barrel by 11:26 am ET. WTI is ahead more than 9% this week after President Joe Biden suggested Thursday that the U.S. was discussing a possible Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities.

OPEC+ has enough spare oil capacity to compensate for a loss of Iranian crude exports, according to analysts. But the market is worried that an Israel strike could provoke Iran to disrupt the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

— Spencer Kimball

Abercrombie, Spirit, Rivian among stocks making biggest midday moves

Check out the companies making moves in midday trading:

• Abercrombie & Fitch - Shares of the teen apparel retailer jumped nearly 9% after JPMorgan added it to its positive catalyst watch list. Analyst Matthew Boss raised the stock's price target and third-quarter earnings estimate/
• Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways — Ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit plunged more than 26% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that it is potentially filing for bankruptcy after its failed merger with peer airline firm JetBlue. JetBlue shares jumped more than 15.5% on the news.
• Rivian Automotive — The electric vehicle maker slipped 8% after cutting its annual production guidance for 2024, citing a supply shortage.

For more, read here.

— Pia Singh

Vistra among the 27 stocks hitting fresh 52-week highs

27 stocks in the S&P 500 were trading at new 52-week highs on Friday, including power company Vistra. The utility stock leads the broad market index on the week, seeing week-to-date gains of nearly 17%.

Among those 27 names, 19 hit new all-time highs. Here are some that hit the milestone:

• Meta trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May 2012
• Exxon trading at all-time highs back to when it was listed on the NYSE in 1920
• Aflac trading at all-time high levels back through our history in 1973
• MetLife trading at all-time high levels back to when it became a publicly traded company in April 2000
• Caterpillar trading at all-time high levels back to when it first began trading on the NYSE in 1929
• GE Vernova trading at all-time highs back to its spin-off from GE in April 2024
• Constellation Energy trading at all-time high levels back to its spin-off from Exelon in January 2022
• Arista Networks trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in June 2014

Meanwhile, Modern hit a new 52-week low during the session. The biotechnology stock was trading at lows not seen since September 2020.

— Sean Conlon

Amazon can save $20 billion annually by using autonomous vans, says JMP

Amazon can potentially save more than $20 billion a year by deploying autonomous technology with electric Rivian vans for middle-mile transport and ditching internal combustion engine vans, according to JMP Securities.

Fuel costs about 25% to 30% of the per-mile costs in middle- and last-mile delivery, analyst Nicolas Jones noted. Electric vehicles can cut per-mile energy costs by nearly 50%, he said. On top of that, wages and benefits account for more than 40% of the cost per mile, he added.

"By eventually utilizing autonomous driving technology for middle mile, in combination with deploying electric vehicles for last-mile delivery, we see an opportunity for AMZN to reduce shipping costs by ~20% globally ($20B) over time; this reflects approximately $1.15 of savings per mile," Jones said, noting that this is a medium- to long-term opportunity.

In the near term, he sees the potential of up to $7 billion in annual savings globally as Amazon converts its last-mile fleet to Rivian vans.

Shares of Amazon are up about 20% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

China stock ETFs headed for fourth straight weekly gain

ETFs tied to the Chinese stock market continued to ride high this week, on track for their fourth straight weekly advances. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has soared 10% this week, while the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) has popped 10.6% in that time.

— Fred Imbert

Energy sector poised to see best week since 2022

Energy stocks in the S&P 500 are heading for their best week in almost two years.

The sector has climbed about 6.8% this week, making it the best performer of the 11 that comprise the S&P 500. That leg up comes as oil prices have rallied with rising geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.

If that advance holds, it would mark the group's biggest weekly gain since a week in late October of 2022. For reference, the energy sector jumped more than 8% during that week.

Diamondback Energy has led the sector up this week with a rally of more than 12%. APA followed, climbing more than 9%.

Every stock in the sector is tracking for gains this week.

— Alex Harring

Hospitality, health care lead job gains

The strong September jobs report showed big months for some of the categories that have fueled the economy's post pandemic rebound. These were the top three areas for job growth last month:

• Leisure and hospitality: 78,000 jobs
• Health care and social assistance: 71,700 jobs
• Government: 31,000 jobs.

Check out a full chart of job growth by category here.

— Jesse Pound

Rally pulls stocks out of weekly rut

Friday's advances brought the three major indexes near flat on the week.

With the big gains in the session, the three major indexes were all within striking distance of their flatlines for the week. Heading into Friday, the Dow and S&P 500 were both off by 0.7%, while the Nasdaq was down 1.1%.

— Alex Harring

Stocks open higher

Stocks opened Friday's session higher, regaining ground after a rough week.

The Dow traded up more than 200 points, which equates to a gain of around 0.6%, shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively.

— Alex Harring

Blowout jobs diminish the idea of more jumbo rate cuts, strategist says

The blowout jobs report squashed the idea that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by another half point next month, according to Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

 "The monster upside surprise suggests that the labor market may actually be a picture of strength, not weakness, and it completely dismisses the idea that the Fed could even contemplate another 50bps cut in November," Shah said, adding that recession risks have also collapsed.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday he expects the central bank to move in quarter-point increments at least through the end of the year.

— Yun Li

September jobs report easily beats expectations

The U.S. economy added 254,000 jobs in September, easily topping expectations. Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast an increase of 150,000 jobs. The unemployment rate, which was expected to hold steady at 4.2%, dipped to 4.1%.

— Fred Imbert

Spirit Airlines, Rivian among the names making moves premarket

Some stocks are making big moves in premarket trading:

• Spirit Airlines, JetBlue – Spirit plunged more than 38% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the discount airliner is considering filing for bankruptcy. Shares of peer airline firm JetBlue, which was previously in talks to merge with Spirit, advanced nearly 6%.
• Zim Integrated Shipping Services – The international shipping company's stock fell more than 9% after U.S. dockworkers and the United States Maritime Alliance agreed to a tentative deal to end the strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The news weighed on other international shipping stocks as well. Danish shipping giant Maersk fell more than 8% before paring some losses, while German shipper Hapag-Lloyd fell more than 13%.
• Rivian – Shares tumbled 8% after the electric-vehicle maker cut its annual production guidance to between 47,000 and 49,000 vehicles, versus its prior guidance of 57,000 vehicles. Rivian said it is experiencing a production disruption due to a supply shortage.

Read here for the full list.

— Sean Conlon

Here's what to expect from the U.S. jobs report

Check out the Dow Jones estimates for Friday's September payrolls report, which is slated for release at 8:30 a.m.:

• Nonfarm payrolls: 150,000 up from 142,000 in August
• Unemployment rate: 4.2%
• Average hourly wages: 0.3% month-over-month gain; 3.8% increase year over year

— Fred Imbert

Hong Kong markets resume rally as investors weigh China stimulus, oil gains

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday as concerns over Middle East tensions keep investors on edge in the run up to September's U.S. payrolls report.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is up over 2% at 2:30 p.m. local time, while South Korea's Kospi traded 0.36% higher.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.67% to close at 8,150 points. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.22% to close at 38,635.62 points.

—Lee Ying Shan

U.S. port strike ends

The longshoremen's port strike ended on Thursday, just two days after it began.

"The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues," The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance announced in a joint statement.

About 50,000 members of the ILA union walked off the job earlier this week. This strike was the first by the ILA since 1977.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Kif Leswing

Where the major averages stand

Here's where the major averages stand for the week ahead of Friday's trading:

• The S&P 500 is down 0.67%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.71%
• The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.11%
• The Russell 2000 is down 2.00%

— Lisa Kailai Han

Spirit Airlines plummets 24% after WSJ reports the carrier is exploring bankruptcy

Shares of Spirit Airlines cratered 24% in extended trading Thursday night.

The action came after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar, that the budget airline is in talks with its bondholders over a possible filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Generally, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy involves having a business reorganize its finances and develop a plan to repay its creditors.

Back in March, Spirit and JetBlue Airways terminated their agreement to merge, weeks after the Justice Department won a lawsuit to stop the deal. The DOJ said that the merger would result in higher fares for budget-conscious customers.

Spirit Airlines have been languishing in 2024, down more than 86%. Shares tumbled to a new 52-week low on Thursday, closing lower by about 3.5%.

— Darla Mercado

Energy continues to lead S&P 500's performance on Thursday

Mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have sent oil prices higher this week. On Thursday, the energy sector continued to be the outperformer in the S&P 500.

Eight of the broader index's 11 sectors traded lower on Thursday. The consumer discretionary sector was the laggard and ended the day 1.28% lower.

Eight of the 11 sectors are also on pace to end the week lower. Consumer discretionary stocks are again the laggard, with a 2.81% week-to-date decline. Energy, the best performing sector, is currently up 5.89% on the week and on pace to notch its best weekly performance since March 2023.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Stock futures open marginally lower

Stock futures were trading marginally lower on Thursday night.

Dow futures slipped just under 0.1% shortly after 6 p.m. ET, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures retreated 0.2%.

— Lisa Kailai Han