Strong jobs report sends Wall Street soaring

NEW YORK — Wall Street got exactly what it wanted from Friday’s jobs report: solid hiring, moderate wage growth and continued low unemployment.

Investors sent stocks sharply higher, particularly their recent favorites, technology companies.

U.S. employers added 313,000 jobs in February, more than forecast, and wages didn’t rise as much as investors had feared. The Labor Department also said January’s spike in wages was a bit smaller than it originally thought. It made for a happy ninth anniversary for the current bull market.

Wage fears wane

A month earlier, a jump in wages got investors worried about inflation and set off a stock market swoon, giving the benchmark S&P 500 index its first 10 percent decline in two years.

“I think the fears of wages getting out of control in this point in the cycle … were squashed,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management.

Bond yields also moved solidly higher as investors anticipated that the solid jobs survey portends more steady growth in the U.S. economy.

The Nasdaq composite regained the last of its February losses and closed at an all-time high. Banks also rose as interest rates increased, and industrial and health care and basic materials companies also climbed. Those sectors tend to do better when the economy is growing quickly.

The S&P 500 is still 3 percent beneath its latest record high close, which came on Jan. 26. None of the other major S&P sectors have recovered all of their February losses, as technology has.

Stocks initially declined last week after President Donald Trump said he would place tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. They’ve recovered their losses after he granted exemptions to Canada, Mexico, and potentially to other countries.

Nixon said the administration appears to be setting itself up to take a harder line in China.

China inquiry

While China isn’t a major exporter of steel to the U.S., trade disputes between the two countries aren’t uncommon, and the government is currently investigating China’s treatment of intellectual property held by U.S. companies.

“Clearly the target here is China and how that unfolds will be important for markets,” Nixon said. “The collateral damage could be relatively wide unless it’s done carefully, and so far the process has not been very careful.”

Energy companies climbed as benchmark U.S. crude added $1.92 or 3 percent, to $62.04 a barrel in New York, while Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.88, or 3 percent, to $65.49 a barrel in London.