U.S. stocks rose to new record highs yesterday to end the first trading week of 2021, with market participants considering the prospects of new U.S. fiscal stimulus as well as disappointing U.S. jobs data. For the week, the Dow industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 each climbed over 1 percent, while the Nasdaq advanced 2.4 percent. The weekly gains come despite the turmoil in Washington on Wednesday, delaying the procedural congressional confirmation of Joe Biden's victory. In U.S. news, the economy lost jobs for the first time in eight months in December while the unemployment rate failed to drop for the first time since April. The economy shed 140,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent. The U.S. dollar turned higher against a basket of other currencies after the dismal U.S. jobs report raised expectations for further stimulus measures to support an economy hurt by the coronavirus and restrictions meant to limit its spread. Gold fell sharply on the prospects for a smooth transition of presidential power in Washington and a jump in U.S. Treasury yields. Futures dropped 4.1 percent to $1,835.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver plunged 10 percent. Oil surged to a nearly one-year high and posted the ninth weekly gain in ten weeks, supported by Saudi Arabia's pledge to cut output and strong gains in major stock markets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $1.41, or 2.8 percent, to $52.24 a barrel. The contract rose 6 percent this week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 56.84, or 0.2 percent, to 31,097.97. Sixteen of the index's 30 components advanced, led by Coca-Cola, which gained 2.2 percent. Amgen, Salesforce.com, and McDonald's each rose at least 1.8 percent. 3M and Boeing led decliners, dropping 1.8 and 1.3 percent, respectively. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.89, or 0.55 percent, to 3,824.68. The consumer-discretionary and real-estate sectors each climbed more than 1 percent. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 134.50, or 1 percent, to 13,201.98. Tesla shares jumped 7.8 percent, Google-parent Alphabet gained 1.3 percent, Apple advanced 0.9 percent, Amazon climbed 0.7 percent, and Netflix added 0.3 percent. Facebook fell 0.4 percent.