Wall Street roars, Dow Jones accelerates 701 points

NEW YORK, New York – More positive employment data underpinned U.S. stocks Friday, with all the major indices surging more than two percent.

The Nonfarm payrolls report revealed 223,000 new jobs were created last month, well ahead of expectations of 200,000. Hourly earnings on average increased 4.60 percent compared to December 2021, less than expected.

“We got good news on the inflation front with wage gains that are slowing. We got participation rates pick up again and yet we’re still creating jobs. It’s a kind of a win-win for the economy. And on the other side the ISM services report was really weak and broadly weak,” Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Management in Hunt Valley, Maryland told Reuters Thomson Friday.

“That’s basically making people think the Fed is nearing the end of what’s been one of the most aggressive tightening cycles we’ve seen in decades. That’s why the markets are taking off,” Horneman said.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite jumped 264.05 points or 2.56 percent to 10,569.29.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 rose 86.98 points or 2.28 percent to 3,895.08.

The Dow Jones industrials surged 700.53 points or 2.13 percent to 33,630.61.

The U.S. dollar crumbled despite the strong jobs data as investors bet inflation had been tamed and the Fed would now be in a position to deliver a soft landing. The euro stormed up to 1.0643 by the U.S. close Friday. The British pound swelled to 1.2093. The Japanese yen rose to 132.07. The Swiss franc firmed to 0.9275.

The Canadian dollar was sharply higher at 1.3441. The Australian dollar was in demand at 0.6883. The New Zealand dollar jumped to 0.6352.

On overseas equity markets, the CAC 40 in Paris, France climbed 1.47 percent. The German Dax was up 1.20 percent. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.87 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.59 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.08 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong retreated 0.29 percent.

The Australian All Ordinaries garnered 0.68 percent Friday. Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite rose 0.46 percent. In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 dropped 0.22 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Composite advanced 1.12 percent.