Stocks close lower but S&P 500 still on weekly gain

Stocks closed in the red on Friday as investors digested a key report on the labor market’s recovery, which showed a much weaker than expected growth of hiring in September.

The S&P 500 fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the day, trading choppily like recurrent waves after three successive sessions of advances. The index still retained weekly gain.

The moves to the upside earlier this week came after Senate leaders said they reached an agreement on raising the government borrowing limit into early December, helping avert a default as soon as this month.

The chamber voted Thursday evening to raise the debt limit by $480 billion, and the legislation for the short term increase now heads to the House of Representatives.

With concerns over the government debt ceiling pushed off, investors have fixed their attention toward the latest monthly jobs report from the Labor Department.