Same-store sales, Apple iPad sales also in focus By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch NEWYORK (MarketWatch) -- The stock market in the week ahead will have its first chance to react to the U.S. payrolls report released on Good Friday, which showed the biggest increase in jobs in three years, adding to evidence that the world's largest economy is on the mend. And first-quarter earnings season will kick off with four components of the S&P 500 Index reporting results, while retailers will release same-store sales for March. U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday. In the week through Thursday, all three benchmark stock indexes advanced for a fifth straight week of gains, with oil and other commodities rallying as economic reports from the U.S., Asia and Europe combined to lift hopes of a global recovery. See Thursday's stocks report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 10,927, +70.44, +0.65%) touched the highest level since September 2008, just after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the credit crisis deepened. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX 1,178, +8.67, +0.74%) rose 1% for the week to 1,178.10. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP 2,403, +4.62, +0.19%) rose to 2,402.58, up 0.3% for the week. Five weeks of consecutive gains is the longest string since July 2008. "We're in a sweet spot," said Keith Goddard, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund (CIAOX 16.13, +0.10, +0.62%) . "The economy is definitely improving. Stocks are not cheap but they're not overly expensive, so we can keep grinding higher." A strong payrolls report may lead to "some capitulation from whoever left is still thinking the economy is not going to recover," he said. The Labor Department said Friday that the economy created 162,000 jobs in March. While that headline number missed analyst estimates, it was all due to smaller-than-expected number of hires by the Commerce Department to conduct the census. Analysts focused on private-sector payrolls, which rose more than predicted. Read about payrolls data. "It's a good number after two years of a horrendous job market," said Thomas Nyheim, a portfolio manager at Christiana Bank & Trust Co. "This jobs report shows companies are starting to hire." Consumer spending, a crucial component to an economic recovery has been very slow for months but ticked up so far this year, he said. "There are signs it's emerging again," Nyheim said. Commodity trading was also shuttered on Friday. Gold futures for June delivery closed Thursday at 1,126.10 an ounce, after making the biggest weekly jump since mid-February. Read about gold futures.

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