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NEW YORK, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed for the first week of February, with the Nasdaq setting new closing records, as investors mainly digested a batch of economic data and corporate earnings.
For the week, the blue-chip Dow edged down 0.1 percent, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 0.1 percent.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 8.05 percent to end at 10.97 on Friday.
On the economic front, U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 227,000 in January, well above market consensus of 175,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4.8 percent.
In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to 26.00 U.S. dollars, following a 6-cent increase in December. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent.
"The fourth quarter's 148k average job growth was the weakest since the 90k average in the second quarter of 2012. January's rebound is likely the first of several above-trend gains," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.
The Non-Manufacturing Index, which measures activity in the U.S. service sector, registered 56.5 percent in January, missing market expectations of 57.0, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in its monthly survey Friday.
In the week ending Jan. 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 246,000, a drop of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.
U.S. private sector employment increased by 246,000 jobs from December 2016 to January 2017, well above the market consensus of 168,000, said the January ADP National Employment Report Wednesday.
The January purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 56 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the seasonally adjusted December reading of 54.5 percent, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Wednesday.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index came in at 111.8, down from 113.3 in December and missing market expectations of 122.2.
U.S. personal income in December increased 50.2 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent, missing market consensus, announced the Commerce Department Monday.
In December, disposable personal income increased 43.6 billion dollars, or 0.3 percent, and personal consumption expenditures increased 63.1 billion dollars, or 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, investors were also sifting through the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5-0.75 percent.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. central bank painted a relatively upbeat picture for the country's economy. "Labor market continued to strengthen and ... economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace," said the statement.
The Fed also acknowledged the improved consumer and business sentiment following the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. President, but offered no hint on when it might move.
"The lack of surprises in today's Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) statement suggests the Fed is in no hurry to raise rates," said Low.
"It would make sense for the Fed to hike in March if their first priority were to raise rates three times, as suggested by the December dot plot. But the data feeding the Fed' s policy guides does not yet support a hike, nor, apparently, does it support a strong signal concerning the next meeting," he added.
In corporate news, shares of Amazon dropped 3.54 percent to 810.20 dollars apiece Friday, after the e-commerce giant delivered quarterly earnings above estimates but revenues shy of forecasts.
Shares of Visa surged 4.59 percent to 86.08 dollars apiece Friday following the release of the credit-card company's better-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares of Facebook Inc. fell 1.79 percent to 130.84 U.S. dollars apiece Thursday, even though the social media networking website delivered better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Shares of Ralph Lauren Corp. dived 12.32 percent to 76.61 dollars apiece Thursday after the release of the company's disappointing fiscal third-quarter earnings report.
After Tuesday's closing bell, Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2017 first quarter ending Dec. 31, 2016. The tech giant posted all-time record quarterly revenue of 78.4 billion U.S. dollars and all-time record quarterly earnings per diluted share of 3.36 dollars.
The company's shares surged 6.13 percent to 128.79 dollars apiece Wednesday following the release of its better-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares of Under Armour Inc. sank 23.40 percent to 19.22 U.S. dollars apiece Tuesday after the sportswear company posted disappointing quarterly results and said its chief finance officer is leaving the company.
Shares of Pfizer Inc. rose 1.34 percent to 31.73 dollars apiece Tuesday after the drug giant delivered fourth-quarter earnings below market consensus and revenues in line with forecasts.
Shares of United Parcel Service (UPS) plunged 6.75 percent to 109.13 dollars apiece Tuesday after the package delivery company reported lackluster quarterly earnings and gave weak full-year guidance.
The latest data from Thomson Reuters on Friday showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 7.9 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.2 percent.
