Stock market today: Wall Street leaps, nearly escapes its bear market after strong jobs report
Stocks rushed higher after a strong report on the U.S. job market eased Wall Street's worries about a possible recession NEW YORK -- Stocks rushed higher Friday after a strong report on the U.S. job market suggested a recession may not be as close as Wall Street had feared. The S &P 500 leaped 1.5% for the latest surge in a rally that's vaulted it nearly 20% since mid-October. That put Wall Street's main measure of health on the edge of entering what's called a “bull market” despite a long list of challenges. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 701 points, or 2.1%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%. The indexes got a boost after a report showed employers unexpectedly accelerated their hiring last month. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid despite much higher interest rates, and it offers a hefty pillar of support for an economy that’s begun to slow. Areas of the market that do best when the economy is healthy led a widesp...