Wall Street gains ground on jobs report

Tech companies like Nvidia account for big share of rally

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 percent, 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 percent and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.2 percent.

Technology companies accounted for a big share of the rally. Chipmaking giant Nvidia rose 2.4 percent and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.3 percent.

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 strong job market has helped fuel consumer spending and earnings growth for businesses, amounting to strong economic growth overall.

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 percent for the month, which puts less upward pressure on inflation, and Wall Street still expects the Fed to begin cutting rates in June.

Friday’s gains followed a late-day slump in stocks on Thursday after a Fed official unsettled investors by questioning whether the central bank needs to cut rates at all this year amid a strong economy.

Treasury yields climbed following the jobs report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.40 percent from 4.31 percent just before the report was released.

The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.75 percent from 4.65 percent just prior to the report.

The bond market may be signaling concern about interest rates staying higher for longer, but the stock market seems to be accepting the strong jobs report as good news, with consumer spending and corporate profits remaining important for investors.

“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.