Stocks ended solidly higher and bond yields rose Friday as Wall Street welcomed a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, making up most of the loss from the previous day and moving closer to its record high set last week. The benchmark index still posted its first weekly loss in three weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.2%.
Technology companies accounted for a big share of the rally. Chipmaking giant Nvidia rose 2.4% and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.3%.
The gains were broad, with every sector in the S&P 500 finishing in the green.
U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 303,000 workers to their payrolls in March, according to a government report on Friday.
The robust job market has also sparked concerns about inflation creeping higher, which could delay any rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. However, Friday’s report showed that wages rose a modest 0.3% for the month, which puts less upward pressure on inflation, and Wall Street still expects the Fed to begin cutting rates in June.
Treasury yields climbed following the jobs report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.40% from 4.31% just before the report was released. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.75% from 4.65% just prior to the report.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 57.13 points to 5,204.34. The Dow added 307.06 points to 38,904.04, and the Nasdaq gained 199.44 points to 16,248.52.
Johnson & Johnson slipped 0.1% after the pharmaceutical giant said it was buying the medical technology company Shockwave in a deal worth about $13 billion.
Apple edged up 0.5% after announcing that it is laying off more than 600 workers in California.
In energy markets, the price of U.S. crude oil settled 0.4% higher. It’s up just over 20% so far this year as demand remains robust.
Wheat for May rose 11 cents at $5.6725 a bushel; May corn was off 1 cents at $4.3425 a bushel, May oats fell 5 cents at $3.3125 a bushel; while May soybeans was up 5 cents at $11.85 a bushel.
— Associated Press