Wall Street gains ground following a solid jobs report and marks another winning week

Los Angeles Times

a day ago

Stocks gained ground on Wall Street Friday following a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market.
The gains were broad, with every sector in the S&P 500 rising. That solidified a second consecutive winning week for the benchmark index, which has rallied back from a slump two months ago to come within striking distance of its record high.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 61.06 points, or 1%, to 6,000.36. It is now within 2.3% of its record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 443.13 points, or 1%, to 42,762.87. The Nasdaq rose 231.50 points, or 1.2%, to 19,529.95.
Technology stocks, with their outsized values, led the broad gains. Chipmaker Nvidia jumped 1.2% and iPhone maker Apple rose 1.6%.
Tesla rose 3.7%, regaining some of the big losses it suffered on Thursday when Trump and Musk sparred feverishly on social media.
Circle Internet Group, the U.S.-based issuer of one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, rose 29.4%. That adds to its 168% gain from Thursday when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.
U.S. employers slowed their hiring last month, but still added a solid 139,000 jobs amid uncertainty over President Trump's trade war.
The closely watched monthly update reaffirmed that the job market remains resilient, despite worries from businesses and consumers about the impact of tariffs on goods going to and coming from the U.S. and its most important trading partners.
'It looks like, for now, everything is kind of running smoothly,' said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management. 'Investors see that as a positive, but we also haven't seen the full effect of tariffs yet.'
President Trump's on-again-off-again tariffs continue to weigh on companies. Lululemon Athletica plunged 19.8% after the maker of yoga clothing cut its profit expectations late Thursday as it tries to offset the impact of tariffs while being buffeted by competition from start-up brands.
Lululemon joins a wide range of companies, from retailers to airlines, who have warned investors about the potential hit to their revenue and profits because of tariffs raising costs and consumers potentially tightening their spending.
Hopes that Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with other countries have been among the main reasons the S&P 500 has rallied back so furiously since dropping roughly 20% from its record two months ago.
Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.
The economy is already absorbing the impact from tariffs on a wide range of goods from key trading partners, along with raw materials such as steel. Heavier tariffs could hit businesses and consumers in the coming months.
The U.S. economy contracted during the first quarter. Recent surveys by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, found that both American manufacturing and services businesses contracted last month.
On Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast 1.6% growth for the U.S. economy this year, down from 2.8% last year.
The uncertainty over tariffs and their economic impact has put the Federal Reserve in a delicate position.
'All things being equal, you can clearly see they are on hold,' Zaccarelli said.
The central bank is holding its benchmark interest rate steady as it worries about tariffs reigniting inflation. It fought hard, using interest rate increases, to ease inflation back toward its target of 2% and rates have been hovering just above that level.
The Fed has been hesitant to cut interest rates in 2025 after trimming rates three times late last year. While lower interest rates can give the economy a boost, they can also push inflation higher. That could be especially damaging if import taxes are also raising costs for businesses and consumers.
Wall Street expects the central bank to hold rates steady at its June meeting, but traders are forecasting that it will have to cut interest rates later this year in an effort to prop up the economy.
In the bond market, Treasury yields made significant gains. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.51% from 4.39% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks traders' expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do with overnight interest rates, rose to 4.04% from 3.92% late Thursday.
Markets in Europe were mostly higher.
Troise writes for the Associated Press.