NEW YORK (AP) โ Stocks rose on Wall Street on Friday and Treasury yields rose after a positive U.S. jobs report.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 113 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:10 a.m. ET. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%.
The gains follow a late Thursday slide in major indexes after a Federal Reserve official rattled investors by questioning whether the central bank needs to cut rates amid a strong economy. A series of recent reports have shown that the US economy remains resilient despite high levels of inflation and high interest rates.
American employers added a surprising 303,000 workers to their payrolls in March, according to a government report released Friday. The strong labor market has helped boost consumer spending and business profit growth, which equates to strong economic growth overall. But it complicates the outlook for the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation and hopes of reducing borrowing costs.
Treasury yields rose after the jobs report. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.35% from 4.31% just before the report was released. The two-year yield, which moves the most based on the Federal Reserve's expectations, rose to 4.70% from 4.65% just before the report.
The Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate remains at its highest level in two decades as a result of historic rate increases aimed at controlling inflation. The strategy has apparently worked so far, as overall consumer prices have fallen sharply from a peak in 2022. Inflation fell to a rate of 3.2% in February. It reached 9.1% in mid-2022.
Strong employment and consumer spending have raised concerns that it will be increasingly difficult to cool inflation to the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%. It also increases the possibility that inflation will overheat.
Wall Street is still primarily betting that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its June meeting, but the odds have decreased from a month ago, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The Federal Reserve has also announced three interest rate cuts this year, and stronger economic data is raising concerns about whether that number will be reduced.
The market was largely quiet elsewhere and the latest round of corporate results will intensify in the coming weeks.
Johnson & Johnson fell 0.3% after the pharmaceutical giant said it was buying medical technology company Shockwave in a deal valued at about $13 billion.
In energy markets, oil prices have remained essentially stable, but are up 20% so far this year as demand remains strong.
Markets in Europe and Asia fell.
