Stocks closed sharply higher on Wall Street, erasing their losses for the week, after the government reported a cooldown in hiring last month.
For markets that was a welcome sign that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight inflation by slowing the economy with high interest rates might be making some progress. The S&P 500 rose 1.3% Friday, its biggest gain since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%. and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%.
U.S. employers added 175,000 jobs last month, down sharply from a big increase in March. Apple jumped after announcing a mammoth $110 billion stock buyback.
On Friday:
The S&P 500 rose 63.59 points, or 1.3%, to 5,127.79.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 450.02 points, or 1.2%, to 38,675.68.
The Nasdaq composite rose 315.37 points, or 2%, to 16,156.33.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 19.61 points, or 1%, to 2,035.72.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is up 27.83 points, or 0.5%.
The Dow is up 436.02 points, or 1.1%.
The Nasdaq is up 228.43 points, or 1.4%.
The Russell 2000 is up 33.72 points, or 1.7%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 357.96 points, or 7.5%.
The Dow is up 986.14 points, or 2.6%.
The Nasdaq is up 1,144.98 points, or 7.6%.
The Russell 2000 is up 8.65 points, or 0.4%.
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