(Bloomberg) — Stocks notched their biggest advance since February as a slowdown in US jobs sent bond yields tumbling, with traders reviving bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.
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A softer-than-estimated payrolls number — that did not signal the labor market is rolling over — and a cooldown in wages appeased investors worrying about “stagflation” or a recession. Instead, the latest employment print gave fodder to the believers in an economy that is gradually slowing and would allow a data-dependent Fed to start easing policy as early as September.
“The payroll miss hands the baton to the bulls,” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers. “Markets are rallying aggressively as incoming data point to a shorter journey across the monetary-policy bridge.”
The S&P 500 rose 1.3%, with equities also buoyed by Apple Inc.’s post-earnings surge. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 2%. Wall Street’s…
