Wall Street Gains on Strong Jobs Report, Hopes for Eased U.S.-China Tariffs

U.S. stocks ended higher Friday, securing a second consecutive week of gains as strong jobs data and signs of a potential thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions lifted investor sentiment. The Dow Jones rose 564.47 points (1.39%) to 41,317.43, the S&P 500 added 82.54 points (1.47%) to 5,686.68, and the Nasdaq gained 266.99 points (1.51%) to 17,977.73.

April’s U.S. payrolls report showed 177,000 jobs added, exceeding forecasts and keeping unemployment steady at 4.2%. Despite earlier concerns stemming from a GDP contraction—triggered by a surge in tariff-related imports—the labor data signaled resilience. Strategists noted the slowdown in job growth was milder than expected post-tariff announcements.

Markets also reacted positively to news that Beijing is considering Washington’s offer to reopen trade talks after President Trump’s imposition of 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. While the trade war remains unresolved, the partial rollback of tariffs helped U.S. indexes rebound. The S&P 500 is now up 0.3% since Trump’s April 2 "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and both the S&P and Dow marked their longest winning streaks since 2004 and 2023, respectively.

Big tech delivered mixed performances. Apple fell 4% after cutting its buyback program and warning of $900 million in added costs from tariffs. Meta jumped 4.3%, Nvidia rose 2.6%, while Amazon dipped 0.1%. In energy, Chevron gained 1.6% and ExxonMobil edged up 0.4% on solid earnings.

Block plunged 20% on weak guidance, and Take-Two Interactive dropped 7% after delaying "Grand Theft Auto VI" to 2026. Advancers outpaced decliners by nearly 4-to-1 on the NYSE, reflecting broad market optimism. Trading volume was 16 billion shares, below the recent daily average.