Wall Street found firm footing to close the week as solid but unspectacular jobs data eased fears of a sharp labor market slowdown while keeping Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations intact.
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Both the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 climbed to fresh record highs, signaling a rally that has broadened across both large-cap and small-cap stocks. By midday trading in New York, the index of the 500 largest U.S. corporations broke above 6,970 points, up 0.7%. The Russell 2000 jumped up to 1.2% to 2,635, setting another all-time high and marking its fifth gain in the past six sessions.
Blue-chip stocks also hovered near record levels, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading around 49,555. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 advanced 1% but remained roughly two percentage points below its late-October peak.
December nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000, slightly below expectations of 60,000, confirming a continued cooling in employment growth. The brighter signal came from the unemployment rate, which unexpectedly declined to 4.4% from 4.5%, suggesting the labor market …