The Dow Jones industrial average rose 247.12, or by 2.2 percent, to close at 11,286.18. That left Wall Street's best-known average just 40 points shy of the record close of 11,326.04 reached on Aug. 25. At its peak Friday morning, the Dow was up 302 points before dropping back to finish with its second-biggest point gain of the year. The Nasdaq composite rose 67.85 to 3,520.63, piercing the 3,500-mark just a month after breaking above 3,000 for the first time and leaving it up more than 60 percent since the end of last year. The rally was sparked by a report showing that inflationary forces remained mild last month even as the economy created 234,000 jobs and the nation's unemployment rate held steady at a three-decade low of 4.1 percent.
Inflation is the enemy of stocks.
Friday's employment report was closely watched on Wall Street because recent economic barometers have delivered a mixed picture. Declines in manufacturing activity have suggested that the Fed's interest rate increases are successfully cooling the economy and keeping inflation at bay. But a booming start to the holiday shopping season and solid growth in new home sales point to an economy on the rise. All rights reserved.