Stock Market up

Stock market leaps upward after better-than-expected jobs report

From CNBC: Stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street digested a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for April, which eased recession fears and put the S&P 500 on pace for its longest winning streak in just over two decades.

The S&P 500 advanced 1.6%, a move that placed the broad market index on track for its ninth consecutive day of gains. If the index closes higher, that would mark its longest winning streak since November 2004.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 575 points, or 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7%. With Friday’s gains, the S&P 500 has now recovered its losses since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariffs. This comes a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq accomplished the same feat.

Payrolls grew by 177,000 in April, above the 133,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated. That figure is still down sharply from the 228,000 added in March but much better than feared after recession worries grew last month. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, in line with expectations.