Closing Bell: Gap Disappoints on August Sales; U.S. Stocks Climb

A weaker jobs report brought slight relief over diminished chances of a September rate hike. The higher likelihood of accommodative rates for longer pushed benchmark indexes to clock modest gains for the session and week. Crude oil ended with steep weekly losses as ballooning domestic output concerned traders already worried over an international supply glut. Drilling activity in the U.S. rose for its ninth time in 10 weeks, according to Baker Hughes.  Gap (GPS) - Get Report slid as weaker foot traffic continued to hurt sales. The retailer reported a 3% decline in comparable-store sales over August. Sales at its Banana Republic brand saw the worst decline.  Verifone (PAY) tumbled after getting hit with a series of downgrades following a disappointing third quarter. Piper Jaffray and Wedbush both downgraded the payments company.