US stocks rise to record highs after payrolls boost

NEW YORK – US stocks jumped to record highs Friday after a strong jobs report for the month of July gave investors more confidence that the economy is still growing. Financial and technology stocks soared and investors sold the safe assets they have favored for most of this year.

The Labor Department said US employers added 255,000 jobs in July, far more than investors expected and the second straight month of strong gains after shaky reports this spring. Stocks made their biggest gain in almost a month. Banks traded higher as investors anticipated higher interest rates and bigger profits on mortgages and other loans. The Nasdaq composite closed at a record high as tech stocks continued to climb. Consumer companies also made big gains. Investors sold bonds, precious metals, and phone and utility companies, safe investments that soared earlier this year as investors worried about the health of the economy.

“It looks like the economy is improving, it looks like corporate earnings are on the upswing,” said Sam Stovall, US equity strategist for S&P Capital IQ. That marks a change from earlier this year, he said, when investors worried the US would fall into a recession and tech companies would suffer as businesses cut spending. But tech stocks have come back to lead the market higher over the last few months.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 191.48 points, or 1 percent, to 18,543.53. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 18.62 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,182.87. The Nasdaq advanced 54.87 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,221.12.

The strong jobs report suggests that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in late June didn’t have much effect on hiring plans for US companies. The unemploy- ment rate remained at 4.9 percent and hourly pay continued to rise. The hiring spree follows an even larger surge in June and represents a turnaround from weak job growth in the first half of this year, including disappointing job gains in April and May.

Kate Warne, an investment strategist for Edward Jones, said the report reassured investors but won’t vanquish their fears entirely.