Stocks enjoy positive week

U.S. stocks rebounded Friday from a deep slump earlier in the week to muster the first positive five-day stretch after three weeks of declines.

The day's modest gains added to a strong finish for stocks a day earlier, enough for the Dow Jones industrial average to register a 0.6 percent gain for the week, while the S&P 500 index finished up 0.8 percent.

The Dow rose 165.55 points, or 1.06 percent, to 15,794.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 23.59 points, or 1.33 percent, to 1,797.02. The Nasdaq composite increased 68.74 points, or 1.69 percent, to 4,125.86.

Expedia led the gains in the S&P 500 index, surging 14 percent after reporting that its profit and revenue jumped as hotel bookings increased.

A widely anticipated jobs report from the Labor Department showed U.S. employers added 113,000 jobs last month, less than the average monthly gain of 194,000 in 2013.

The government also reported that the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 6.6 percent in January from 6.7 percent in December. It was the lowest rate since October 2008. The Dow is still down 4.7 percent for the year. The S&P 500 is down 2.8 percent.

Some market watchers pointed to this week's rebound as a sign that stocks have become more stable.

"It appears we sort of found our sea legs here in the middle of the week and we're starting to rally back into a more normal valuation pattern," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors.

Others saw the potential for more turbulence.

"This is sort of the new market we live in," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. "There are going to be gyrations where we're higher, we're lower, some quick corrections, some quick rallies. This is going to set a tone for the first half of the year."

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.69 percent from 2.70 percent as investors moved money into bonds.