Wall Street Closes Mixed With Weak Job Gains, Oil Rise

Wall Street closed mixed Friday with weak job gains and rise in oil prices.



The Dow lost 21 points to finish the day at 19,170. The S&P 500 rose less than one point to end the day flat at 2,191 and, the Nasdaq increased four points to close at 5,255.



While the Dow posted a 0.1 percent weekly gain, the S&P and the Nasdaq decreased 1 percent and 2.7 percent this week, respectively.



Triggered by OPEC's deal to cut production, oil prices increased 12 percent this week.



At the final bell Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at $51.58 a barrel -- a 1 percent increase. International benchmark Brent crude was at $54.30 per barrel -- a 0.7 percent gain.



On Friday, WTI rose as high as $51.79 a barrel to reach its highest level in a month. Brent crude climbed to as much as $54.52 per barrel -- its highest level since July 2015.



The American economy added 178,000 jobs in November. The market expectation, however, was a 180,000 increase. -