Stocks Climb After Jobs Report

Stocks ended solidly higher and bond yields rose Friday as Wall Street welcomed a surprisingly strong US jobs report, per the AP.

• The S&P 500 rose 57.13 points, or 1.1%, to 5,204.34. It closed the week down 50.01 points, or 1%.
• The Dow rose 307.06 points, or 0.8%, to 38,904.04. It fell 903.33 points, or 2.3%, for the week.
• The Nasdaq rose 199.44 points, or 1.2%, to 16,248.52. For the week, it was down 130.94 points, or 0.8%.

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. US employers added a surprisingly strong 303,000 workers to their payrolls in March, according to a government report on Friday. The strong job market has helped fuel consumer spending and earnings growth for businesses, amounting to strong economic growth overall. The Fed and investors will get another key update on inflation next week when the government releases its March report on consumer prices.

The robust job market has sparked concerns about inflation creeping higher, which could delay any interest 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. "As long as the market gets one or two cuts and the Fed doesn't leave rates unchanged, that's good enough for equity investors," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. (More stock market stories.)