Indices closed well into the green zone Friday. Bank of America, Alcoa and Caterpillar led the Dow’s ascent. Brands climbed on favorable employment numbers for January. The Bureau of Labor statistics said the economy added 243,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.3%, the lowest level since February 2009. Economists had expected an addition of 150,000 new jobs. Elsewhere, crude oil tacked on $1.48 to settle at $97.84 a barrel. Looking ahead, housing and consumer sentiment data is due for release next week as well as earnings reports from Disney, Nissan, and Cisco.
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