Market Recap: Stocks Absolutely in Love With Friday's Jobs Numbers

Markets closed up today:

▲ Dow: +1.69 percent

▲ Nasdaq: +2.00 percent

▲ S&P: +1.90 percent

Precious metals:

▲ Gold: up +0.92 percent to $1,601.05 an ounce

▲ Silver: up +2.47 percent to settle at $27.73

Commodities:

▲ Oil: +4.51 percent

Markets closed up because:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Friday jobs numbers got a big welcome on Wall Street Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 217.29 points to close at 13,096.17, ending a four-day losing streak. It was the best day for the Dow since June 29.

Markets had been slumping all week after central banks in the U.S and Europe took no new action to shore up the economy, as investors had hoped.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report gave investors assurance that the U.S. economy may be “doing better on its own,” the AP reports. U.S. employers supposedly added 163,000 jobs last month

From April through June, the economy added an average of just 73,000 jobs a month, compared with an average of 226,000 in the first three months of the year.

Today’s economic news caused investors to sell low-risk assets like U.S. government debt. The selling drove prices down and yields up. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was yielding 1.57 percent, up from 1.48 percent Thursday.

Oil prices also rose as investors became more optimistic about the economy. Benchmark crude shot up $4.27 to $91.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 25.99 points to 1,390.99, and the Nasdaq composite index added 58.13 points to 2,967.90.

Despite the increases in hiring, there were still enough signs of weakness in the latest jobs report to keep hope alive that the Federal Reserve may still take more steps to kick-start the economy at its next meeting in September. A separate survey of households by the Labor Department found that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent in July from 8.2 percent in June.

At the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, the Fed said it would take action on the economy "as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery." On Thursday, markets fell sharply after the European Central Bank didn't announce specific plans to tackle the continent's debt crisis, as many investors expected it would.

Several U.S. companies turned in strong earnings reports on Friday. Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide, Bounty, NyQuil and many other consumer products, reported a 45 percent surge in quarterly earnings, easily beating Wall Street's forecasts. P&G's stock rose $1.99 to $65.50.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.