U.S. stocks end higher after jobs, economic data

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday as investors bet that a spate of economic data, including the March jobs report, wouldn't speed up the pace of interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 gained 13.05 points, or 0.6%, to 2,072.79 -- bolstered by health-care and consumer-staples shares like Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA, +2.92% The index gained 1.8% on the week, its strongest performance in a month. The Dow industrials gained 107.73 points, or 0.6%, to 17,792.82, led higher by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +1.81% and Visa Inc. V, +1.45% The blue-chip gauge rose 1.6%, its strongest gain in two weeks. The Nasdaq Composite gained 44.69 points, or 0.9%, to 4,914.54 for a weekly gain of 3% -- its best performance in six weeks.