Wall Street capped a choppy week of trading Friday with the best day for the stock market in over two months, as traders welcomed cooler-than-expected U.S. employment data as a sign that inflationary pressures on the economy are easing.
The modest increase in hiring last month suggests the Federal Reserve’s aggressive streak of rate hikes may be finally starting to take a bigger toll on the world’s largest economy. That may help reassure the Fed that inflation will ease further, which could move the central bank closer to lowering interest rates.
“Some of this data coming out of the employment report dampens that narrative a little bit,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. “They want to cut interest rates, but they need more confidence in the inflation data and today’s wage data is a little bit more confidence for them.”
Friday’s market rally was widespread, though technology stocks powered much of the gains. Apple jumped 6% after announcing a mammoth $110 billion stock buyback. Several companies notched gains after reporting strong quarterly results.
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