NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were on the rise on Friday, despite disappointing jobs data which showed the growth in employment losing momentum. In a sign of how irrational markets have become, the disappointing jobs data was taken as a positive.

"The bad news of the weakening jobs picture is potentially good news for investors because it means that the stimulus bill is much more likely to take place in a fairly short time frame," Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in North Carolina told Reuters Thomson Friday.

The Dow Jones closed out the week well above the crucial technical level of 30,000, the first weekly close above the 30,000 level.

Foreign exchange markets were quiet with the relentless selling of the U.S. dollar of recent months waning somewhat.

The euro dipped to 1.2118 by the New York close Friday.

The British pound inched down to 1.3420. The Swiss franc eased to 0.8912.

The Australian dollar was lower at 0.7428. The New Zealand dollar weakened to 0.7038.

Going against the trend, the Japanese yen strengthened to 104.16, while the Canadian dollar advanced to 1.2780.

The Dow Jones industrials finished the day ahead 248.74 points or 0.83 percent at 30,218.26.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 32.40 points or 0.88 percent to 3,699.12.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite advanced 87.05 points or 0.70 percent to 12,464.23.

European and UK markets finished in the black. London's FTSE 100 closed 0.92 percent higher Friday. The Dax in Germany gained 0.35 percent. In Paris, the CAC 40 climbed 0.62 percent.

On Asian markets, in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 58.13 points or 0.22 percent at 26,751.24.

The Australian All Ordinaries on Friday edged up 18.00 points or 0.26 percent to 6,865.30.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 107.42 points or 0.40 percent to 26,835.92, while China's Shanghai Composite added 2.45 points or 0.07 percent to 3,444.58.