The S&P 500 index traded firmly higher, with all 11 of its sectors in the green, late-morning Friday, highlighting a steady climb in equities after a better-than-expected jobs report underlined domestic economic strength. The S&P 500 index was up 0.7% at 2,756, with the health-care sector jumping more than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing by about 100 points, or 0.4%, at 24,463, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.9% at 7,656. The rebound for U.S. stocks comes after employment data from the Labor Department early Friday showed that the U.S. created a better-than-expected 213,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate climbing to 4% from 3.8% as labor-force participation increased as well. The report also comes as investors have been focused on escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, which intensified early Friday as President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on Beijing of 25% on $34 billion in products and China responded in kind. The tit-for-tat tariff spat is seen as having the potential to escalate into a dispute that could roil global economies. However, recent trade suggests that investors view the likelihood of the clash morphing into something more substantial as low, with the focus instead shifting to upbeat economic reports. For the week, the Dow is on track to rise 0.8%, the S&P 500 is on pace for weekly gain of 1.4%, while the Nasdaq is looking at a gain over the four-day period of nearly 2%. Markets in the U.S. were closed on Wednesday in observance of Independence Day.