Wall Street Edges Ahead

Updated from 4:29 p.m. EDT

Stocks rose modestly in the final session of a holiday-shortened week, giving Wall Street four consecutive wins to start the second quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 30.15 points, or 0.24%, at 12,560.20 Thursday, and the S&P 500 added 4.39 points, or 0.3%, at 1443.76. The Nasdaq was better by 12.65 points, or 0.51%, to 2471.34.

About 2.39 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancers beating decliners by a 5-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.60 billion shares, and winners outpaced losers 8 to 7.

For the week, the Dow jumped 1.7%, the S&P 500 was up 1.6%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.1%.

During the prior session, the industrials were up 19.75 points to 12,530.05, and the Nasdaq tacked on 8.36 to 2458.69. The slight advance came after Iran decided to free 15 British sailors and marines it captured last month in the Persian Gulf.

"Investors were worried about holding stock over the long weekend with the sailors being held captive," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "With that fear gone, so too was the selling pressure."

The latest jobs report is on tap Friday, when the market is closed for the Good Friday holiday. Economists believe 120,000 workers joined payrolls in March, while the jobless rate probably edged up to 4.6% from 4.5% in February.

To view Farnoosh Torabi's video take on today's market, click here