DOW - Not much profit taking even after huge gain?

Dow

12,019.42

-0.61

-0.01%

By: JeeYeon Park

CNBC.com Writer

Stocks erased most of their earlier gains to finish near the flatline in thin trading Friday, as investors booked profits ahead of the weekend following a robust rally all week. Still, all three major averages posted an impressive gain of over 7 percent for the week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished slightly lower, but still logged its second best weekly point gain ever and ended in positive territory for 2011.


The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended narrowly mixed. The S&P logged its best weekly percentage gain since March 2009.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished above 27.

Non-farm payrolls increased 120,000 last month, according to the Labor Department, while the jobless rate declined to a 2-1/2 year low of 8.6 percent. Economists had expected for a gain of 122,000.


"Today's jobs report is a game-changer for Main Street," said Schoenberger. "Americans will focus on the drop in the unemployment rate, rather than getting into the weeds of how we got there. Look for confidence and sentiment to improve, which could translate into an improved outlook as we enter 2012."

Earlier, stocks got a boost following a report that the ECB may be gearing up to lend as much as 200 bullion euros ($270 billion) to the IMF to ease the sovereign debt crisis, according to Bloomberg.

Investors will be focusing on the European summit in Brussels at the end of next week as the euro zone leaders are expected to discuss changes to the EU treaty to better enforce fiscal discipline.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech to German members of parliament that it was pointless to even consider Eurobonds. Merkel said there was no single quick fix and no fast and easy solution to the euro zone debt crisis, and called for a fiscal union and tighter controls.

And French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would support more severe sanctions for budget sinners in Europe.

Meanwhile, some traders were talking about Republicans in Congress objecting to any further U.S. help for Europe, citing a report from The Hill.

Traders also cited unconfirmed talk of a potential Spanish downgrade.