US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq post best weekly gain since early November

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* J&J files COVID-19 vaccine application with the FDA
* Nonfarm payrolls increase by 49,000 in January

(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday and the S&P
.SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC indexes registered their biggest
weekly percentage gains since the U.S. elections in early
November, boosted by optimism over earnings, stimulus talks and
progress in vaccine rollouts.
The S&P 500 rose for a fifth straight session in its longest
streak of gains since August. The benchmark index and the Nasdaq
posted record closing highs for a second day.
A smaller-than-expected rebound in the labor market last
month highlighted the need for more government aid to shore up
the economy. The Labor Department's data showed job losses in
manufacturing and construction, the two sectors that have been
propping up the economy. Job losses in December were also deeper
than initially thought. U.S. President Joe Biden's drive to enact a $1.9 trillion
coronavirus aid bill gained momentum on Friday with the U.S.
House of Representatives set to vote on a budget plan that would
allow the passage of the legislation in coming weeks without
Republican support. "The upcoming package of stimulus is going to be big," said
Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc, an
investment advisory firm based in Toledo.
"You have a situation where there's a lot of cash on
sidelines and bonds have really underperformed, so that's helped
some sectors that have really done poorly."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
87.45 points, or 0.28%, to 31,143.31, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
15.06 points, or 0.39%, to 3,886.8 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 78.55 points, or 0.57%, to 13,856.30.
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT slipped after
hitting a record high earlier in the session.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose after the drugmaker said it
had asked U.S. health regulators to authorize its single-dose
COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Shares of GameStop Corp GME.N , caught in the recent social
media-hyped trading frenzy, was higher on Friday, after online
broker Robinhood lifted all the buying curbs imposed at the
height of the battle between amateur investors and Wall Street
hedge funds. So far, stronger-than-expected corporate results in the
fourth quarter have driven up analysts' expectations, and S&P
500 companies are on track to post earnings growth for the
period instead of a decline as initially expected.