Stocks Gain Nearly 4% on the Week

Stocks closed only slightly higher Friday despite the best jobs report in months, as a six-session rally that took the markets to a two-year high was pretty much due for a breather.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) closed up just nine points at 11,444, while the broader S&P 500 ($INX) gained five to 1,226. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) added two points to close at 2,579.

A bit of a pause was to be expected at the end of week after Thursday's monster 220-point rally on the Dow, says Kenny Polcari, managing director at interdealer broker ICAP.

Sure, the October employment report "blew the roof" off investors' expectations, Polcari says, but after a week of gains on the mid-term elections and the Federal Reserve's commitment to buying another $600 billion in Treasurys, the good news was priced in and then some.

"The market isn't trading on technicals and fundamentals as much as it is the fact that the federal government is pumping money into it and will continue to do so for the next six or seven months," Polcari says.

Still, the Dow tacked on 3% for the week, while the S&P 500 added 3.6%. The Nasdaq rose 2.9%.

For more on Polcari's take from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, see the video above.