U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as the key May jobs report showed solid gains, boosting confidence in the economic comeback.
The S&P 500 rose about 0.9% to 4,229.89, sitting less than 0.2% from its all-time high reached last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 179.35 points to 34,756.39. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a nearly 1.5% rally to 13,814.49.
The major averages all registered modest gains for the week. The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 advanced about 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, on the week for their second straight positive week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained just shy of 0.5% this week for its third winning week in a row.
The U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number came in slightly lower than an estimate of 671,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, but still showed a healthy rebound in the labor market as it’s up from a disappointing 266,000 payrolls added in April.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, which was better than the estimate of 5.9%. Many believe the jobs report, while solid, is not strong enough to trigger the Federal Reserve to dial back its bond buying program.
The jobs number is “goldilocks for risk,” said John Briggs, global head of strategy at NatWest Markets. It’s “not too hot to bring in the Fed and not too cold to worry about the economy.”
The 10-year Treasury yield dipped slightly following the jobs report. Bond yields had jumped higher in recent months amid rising inflation expectations.
“While the job gains were somewhat modest relative to expectations, the good news is the figure rebounded from last month’s disappointing miss,” said Charlie Ripley, vice president of portfolio management at Allianz Investment Management. “Overall, today’s report does provide progress in the right direction.”
Meme stocks continued their wild prices swings on Friday, but this time to the downside. AMC Entertainment ended the session down about 6.7%, but still gained more than 80% this week. BlackBerry fell 12.7% Friday, paring its rally this week to 37%.
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— with reporting from CNBC’s Patti Domm.
