US stocks on track to end the week with strong gains

Major US stock indices opened higher for the fourth straight session on Friday and set fresh intraday records immediately after the opening bell.

Investors shrugged off a weaker-than-expected US monthly jobs report that showed the economy created 148K jobs in December, well short of consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 190K and worse than previous month's upwardly revised 252K.

Despite the moderation, December jobs report still pointed to the underlying strength in the labor market and remained supportive of the early gains as it is seen as holding the Fed from getting overly aggressive in raising interest rates in 2018.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose around 55-points to 25,130, while the broader S&P 500 Index added 6-points to 2,730. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed nearly 25-points to move above 7,100 round figure mark. Nevertheless, all the three major indices remain on track to post strong gains of anywhere between 2%-2.5% for the week.