U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report. The S&P financial sector jumped 2 percent to score its best day since mid-November after Trump signed an executive order to scale back regulations in the industry that were implemented in the wake of the financial crisis, including the Dodd-Frank law. JP Morgan Chase shares closed up 3.1 percent at $87.18 as the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and helped push the S&P bank index up 2.6 percent.