Stocks rise as rate cut looks more likely

Wall Street turned the page on a painful May in the stock market by starting June with its best week since late November.

Stocks climbed for a fourth consecutive day Friday, capping a week of gains that reversed most of the losses in May, when President Donald Trump's tariff threats escalated trade wars with China and Mexico.

The latest rally came as investors welcomed a report showing that the U.S. added fewer jobs than expected last month. The lackluster snapshot of hiring appeared to increase the odds that the Federal Reserve will have to cut interest rates in coming months.

Stocks surged earlier this week when Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said that the central bank would "act as appropriate" if the trade disputes threatened U.S. economic expansion.

The lackluster jobs report could signal growing caution by businesses as economic growth slows and the U.S. engages in multiple trade conflicts.

"It's a strange market right now," said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer and director of research at Cetera Financial Group. "The markets are taking bad news as good news, as reason to rally."

The S&P 500 index rose 1.1%, to 2,873.34.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 263.28 points, or 1%, to 25,983.94. It had briefly been up 352 points.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7%, to 7,742.10. -- AP