Stocks higher despite trade tiff

The trade dispute between the U.S. and China escalated Friday, but Wall Street focused on a solid jobs report instead.

After a wobbly start, U.S. stocks mounted a broad rally, shaking off two consecutive weekly losses.

Growing jitters in recent weeks over a stepped-up trading dispute between the world’s two largest economies had weighed on the markets well ahead of Friday, when Beijing and Washington launched dueling tariffs on billions in goods.

“The markets had already sold off the prior two weeks,” said Dan Heckman, national investment consultant at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “The market probably had built that expectation in already and today we’re seeing a nice rebound.”

A solid pickup in hiring by U.S. employers last month also helped keep investors in a buying mood.

The S&P 500 index rose 23.21 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,759.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 99.74 points, or 0.4 percent, to 24,456.48. The Nasdaq composite added 101.96 points, or 1.3 percent, to 7,688.39. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 14.57 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,694.05.

The U.S. put a 25 percent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports Friday. China retaliated with taxes on an equal amount of U.S. products, including soybeans, pork and electric cars, calling the move the start of the “biggest trade war in economic history.”

Though the first exchange of tariffs is unlikely to inflict much economic harm on either nation, the damage could soon escalate. President Donald Trump, who has claimed that winning a trade war would be easy, has said that he’s prepared to drastically raise tariffs on more Chinese imports.