Wall Street’s focus was on jobs on Friday, as investors digested an employment rate that showed an unexpected decline in the unemployment rate but also revealed that more jobs were lost last month than anticipated. Markets showed significant volatility throughout the day, but a late rally pushed most equity major benchmarks into the black for the final trading day of the week. Elsewhere, big banks made announcements of executive compensation that are likely to bring on another wave of public criticism and scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of asset classes available through ETFs, inched up 0.18 points to close at 991.95. Volume for index components was nearly 1.8 billion shares, the most active trading day of the year.

By Paul Justice

Fidelity announced Tuesday that it will be offering a suite of 25 iShares ETFs commission-free. In our view, the 25 ETFs selected (see the full list below) are among the most relevant product offerings from the largest ETF provider and will allow investors to build high-quality, transparent, liquid, and tax-efficient portfolios without the single-largest cost burden they previously faced when comparing ETFs to indexed mutual funds--trading commissions.

Fidelity Investments announced today that it will offer its retail customers commission-free online trades for a suite of 25 iShares ETFs. The funds included in the commission-free platform include ETFs in all nine domestic equity style/size categories, as well as international equity and fixed income options. “Fidelity has partnered with the leading ETF provider in the market to bring investors the best brokerage offering in the industry today,” said Kathleen A. Murphy, president of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments. “Simply put, we’re offering the broadest selection of commission-free ETFs from the undisputed ETF leader, and it’s only available through Fidelity.”

The iShares ETFs will be available for commission-free trading beginning today.