Xinhua/Wang Ying/ Getty Images

• The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Friday after a weak April jobs report gave the Federal Reserve breathing room to continue with its easy monetary policies.
• April saw an addition of 266,000 jobs, well below the estimates forecast of 1 million.
• The April jobs report represented the worst miss since 1998.

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Friday after a weak April jobs report led to investors bidding up popular stay-at-home stocks that have performed well during the pandemic. The Nasdaq led the markets higher, but failed to reach new records.

April saw an addition of 266,000 jobs, well below the estimated forecast of 1 million. Unemployment rose to 6.1% from 6.0%. Economists had expected the rate to fall to 5.8%. The jobs report represented the worst miss since 1998.

The report likely gave the Federal Reserve more breathing room in continuing with its easy monetary policies, with regards to keeping interest rates low and its $120 billion monthly bond purchases. 

While the Nasdaq 100 jumped following the release of the April jobs report, the Dow Jones moved lower as cyclical stocks tied to a reopened economy were out of favor.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,232.43, up 0.73%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 34,776.44 up 0.66% (227.91 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,752.24 up 0.88%

Square jumped 6% following its first-quarter earnings report, which surpassed analyst estimates. The company saw its bitcoin revenue jump 1,000% to $3.5 billion, and disclosed that it's the third-largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.

The surge in bitcoin interest has led to banks opening up new business divisions to gain exposure. A report said Citi is planning to launch its own crypto trading services, and Goldman is also launching a cryptocurrency trading desk.

A bitcoin ETF launched three weeks ago has already attracted $832 million in assets under management, as the crypto craze continues. 

Since the announcement of divorce between Bill and Melinda Gates, more than $5 billion worth of stocks have been transferred to Melinda from Bill Gates' Cascade Investment holding company.

Tilray jumped 10% on a double upgrade from Jefferies, which said its merger with Aphria was a "perfect" match.

Oil prices rose modestly. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.05%, to $64.73 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, increased by 0.01%, to $68.10 per barrel.

Gold jumped to its highest price since February, rising as much as 1.5%, to $1,842.59 per ounce

NOW WATCH: How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship

See Also:

• Dave Bujnowski beat 99% of his peers to return 125% last year. The Baillie Gifford investor shares 5 stocks set to benefit from the end of the pandemic and a hyperconnected economy.
• Ex-Ark analyst James Wang breaks down his bull case for Ethereum as its token breaches an all-time high of $3,300 — and explains why it could eventually reach $40,000
• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao breaks down how he built the world's largest crypto exchange in 180 days — and shares why he's keeping most of his assets in Bitcoin and Binance Coin