US stocks end up sharply, helped by Apple, jobs data

U.S. stocks rallied on Friday thanks to upbeat results from Apple and an April jobs report that pointed to a resilient labor market. Shares of Apple jumped nearly 5 percent and were the biggest positive influence on all three major U.S. stock indexes. The Dow rose one and two-thirds percent, the S&P 500 added nearly 1.

9 percent, and the Nasdaq surged 2.25 percent. Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed job growth accelerated last month, and wage gains increased solidly, suggesting the labor market has stayed strong, despite recent interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Financial stocks rebounded after recent weakness tied to the collapse of First Republic Bank, which summit placed financial advisors founder and president Liz Miller says she thinks is significant. Today, you know, we got an important data point with payrolls that you might have thought would have dampened this market.

But what we're really seeing is this great bounce back in financials leading the market. And I think investors are giving a clear message. They think markets can move higher and that this sporadic weakness in banks is really going to put the Fed on hold and even maybe forced to lower rates as the year unfolds. On Wednesday, the U.S. Central Bank raised rates by a quarter point as expected. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted it was too early to say with certainty that the rate hike cycle was over as inflation remains the chief concern.

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