Stocks sail into the weekend

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks picked up speed Friday afternoon as investors cheered a report showing solid economic growth but not inflation, which could keep the Federal Reserve on the sidelines for some time.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 47.23 to 13,613.07, Charts) rose about 0.4 percent with about an hour left in the session.

Fed focus Fed holds rates steady again The nation's central bank keeps a key short-term rate at 5.25% but Bernanke & Co. still worried about inflation. (more) Read the Fed statement Central bank leaves key rate at 5.25% but adjusts its language on inflation. (more) Summer vacation for the Fed Thanks to the big spike in Treasury yields, economists think Bernanke & Co. can stay on hold for the foreseeable future even though inflation concerns persist. (more)

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index (up 8.12 to 2,664.77, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (up 4.31 to 1,529.71, Charts) gained over 0.3 percent.

Stocks rose Monday and Tuesday, ahead of the July 4 holiday but the market ended mixed Thursday as Treasury yields rose after a report showing surprising strength in the service sector.

Friday's better-than-expected jobs report initially added to traders' worries that the Fed might raise interest rates in a bid to cool growth. That would boost the cost of borrowing, pressuring corporate earnings and buyouts, and thus stock prices.

But concerns quickly eased as stock traders focused more on the solid growth part of the story.

The job numbers, rates and oil prices set the tone for the trading day, according to Fred Dickson, chief market analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co., although volume is light because many market participants are taking an extended Independence Day break.

"It's going to be quiet trading until earnings season starts in the middle of next week," Dickson said.

In corporate news, Microsoft (down $0.14 to $29.85, Charts, Fortune 500) said late Thursday that it would take a more than $1 billion charge for repairs to its Xbox 360 video game consoles. It also warned it had missed shipment targets for the end of June. Shares of the Dow component edged lower.

Of the 30 stocks in the Dow, 17 rose and 13 fell.

Shares of Motorola (up $0.13 to $17.93, Charts, Fortune 500) ticked higher despite the cell phone maker's announcement that it expects to incur a net pretax charge of $101 million in the second quarter in connection with previously announced staff cuts.

Burger King (down $0.23 to $26.32, Charts) fell slightly after the fast-food chain said it has begun the rollout of transfat-free cooking oil to its restaurants nationwide.

Shares of UBS (up $0.50 to $61.08, Charts) climbed nearly 1 percent on news that the company is replacing CEO Peter Wuffli with deputy CEO Marcel Rohner, among other executive management changes, after a hedge fund loss of $124 million on a large bet on subprime mortgages.

Genzyme (down $3.79 to $61.08, Charts) sank 5.5 percent after the drugmaker said its treatment for diarrhea worked no better than standard medication.

In more merger news, medical supply company Advanced Medical Optics (down $0.08 to $35.81, Charts) has offered to buy Bausch & Lomb (down $0.11 to $71.89, Charts) for $75 in cash and stock, according the contact lens-maker. The offer is an attempt to trump the $65 a share offer that Bausch & Lomb already agreed to in May from private-equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Macy's (up $1.80 to $41.57, Charts) jumped 5 percent on renewed talk that the department store chain may be the target of a buyout.

And Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (up $7.26 to $562.95, Charts) agreed to boost its bid for CBOT Holdings (up $13.83 to $219.98, Charts) before a shareholder vote Monday.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners by a margin of five to three on volume of 900 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners edged out advancers four to three as 1.2 billion shares changed hands.

On the economic front, job growth slowed a bit to 132,000 in June, but the reading was a shade above economists' forecasts for 125,000 and April and May numbers were revised higher. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent, in line with forecasts.

Treasury prices fell after the jobs report, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.18 percent from 5.14 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices rose, with U.S. light crude for August delivery up 99 cents to $72.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery rose $4.20 to $654.80 an ounce.