U.S. stocks soar on strong jobs report; inflation fears ease

Wall Street got exactly what it wanted from Friday’s jobs report: solid hiring, moderate wage growth and continued low unemployment.

Investors sent stocks sharply higher, particularly their recent favorites, technology companies.

U.S. employers added 313,000 jobs in February, more than forecast, and wages didn’t rise as much as investors had feared. The Labor Department also said January’s spike in wages was a bit smaller than it originally thought. It made for a happy ninth anniversary for the current bull market.

A month earlier, a jump in wages got investors worried about inflation and set off a stock market swoon, giving the benchmark S&P 500 index its first 10 percent decline in two years.

“I think the fears of wages getting out of control in this point in the cycle ... were squashed,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management.

Bond yields also moved solidly higher as investors anticipated that the solid jobs survey portends more steady growth in the U.S. economy.

The Nasdaq composite regained the last of its February losses and closed at an all-time high.

The S&P 500 index climbed 47.60 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,786.57. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 440.53 points, or 1.8 percent, to 25,335.74. The Nasdaq composite jumped 132.86 points, or 1.8 percent, to 7,560.81.