The Dow surged over 700 points mid-afternoon Friday as investors applauded Congress's passage of the debt ceiling deal and celebrated a cheerful jobs report.
The blue-chip index soared 734 points, or 2.2%, putting it on track for the best daily gain since November 2022. The S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2%.
All three major indexes are on pace to gain for the week.
"Moving past the debt ceiling and receiving somewhat of a goldilocks employment report — solid jobs with slowing wage growth and a higher unemployment report — has provided a one-two punch that has boosted confidence of investors who were sidelined and allayed some near-term recession concerns," wrote Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services.
While the headline jobs number of 339,000 showed that the US labor market is still extremely robust, the report also revealed a slight cooldown in average hourly wages and an increase in the unemployment rate. That's a mixed bag of data for the Federal Reserve to decipher when it meets on June 13-14 to decide whether to increase or pause rate hikes.
This story is developing and will be updated.
