NATIONAL

Wall Street barreled higher Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrials up 138 points to a new six-year high after a report of modest job growth bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve will end its interest rates hikes. All three major indexes finished the week with gains.

Investors saw a slowdown in April employment growth as the latest sign of a softening economy, a reason for the Fed to stop raising interest rates. That countered worries over rising wages, which followed an upswing in employers’ labor costs on Thursday.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 138.88, or 1.21 percent, to 11,577.74, its best showing since the Dow reached its all-time high of 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000. The Dow is now just 145.54 away from setting a new record. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 13.51, or 1.03 percent, to 1,325.76, its highest level since Feb. 15, 2001; the Nasdaq composite index advanced 18.67, or 0.8 percent, to 2,342.57. The S & P; remains 13.2 percent away from its all-time high, while the Nasdaq is 53.6 percent lower than its 2000 record.

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Activision Inc. jumped 13 percent to $14.80 after video game maker’s Thursday forecast for the next two years reassured investors worried about the industry slowdown. Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., which reported earnings Thursday, grew 6.7 percent $3.63. On Assignment Inc., which reported earnings on Wednesday, was up 5 percent to $13.31. DaVita Inc., which reported earnings on Wednesday, rose 4.6 percent to $53.29. THQ Inc., which reported earnings Thursday, rose 4.4 to $25.44.

Diodes Inc., which was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” by analyst Christopher A Chaney at Stanford Group. after reporting earnings Thursday, fell 9.7 percent to $39.39. Crown Media Holdings Inc. dropped 8 percent to $3.96. Semtech Corp. was down 2 percent to $17.90.