STORY: Wall Street surged on Friday after a softer-than-expected jobs report fueled hope for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve while also reflecting U.S. economic resilience.
The Dow gained nearly 1.2%, the S&P 500 added more than one-and-a-quarter percent and the Nasdaq climbed about 2%.
The Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report showed the economy added fewer jobs than expected, while the unemployment rate ticked higher and wage growth unexpectedly cooled.
The data prompted investors to raise bets the Fed would start cutting rates in September.
But Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, wonders if a September rate cut could come for another reason - to prevent the economy from slowing too much.
"The problem is the labor market is a relatively leading indicator, and so what would tell us in the moment if they're getting closer to rate cuts is probably something more like retail sales having a significant downshift. But there's also an interesting question that comes to mind here, as this is the lightest jobs report in six months and the last GDP report was about half of what was expected. Does this mean the economy is really slowing down? And does that mean rates might actually get cut for a different reason? I think that's an interesting question as well."
In earnings news, shares of Apple leapt 6% a day after the company unveiled a record $110 billion share buyback program and beat quarterly expectations.
Shares of biotech firm Amgen jumped nearly 12% after encouraging interim data on its experimental weight-loss drug MariTide and first-quarter earnings.
And travel platform Expedia cut its full-year revenue growth forecast, sending its shares sliding more than 15%.
