Wall Street roars again, U.S. dollar crumbles on weak jobs report

NEW YORK, New York - It was like Groundhog Day as stocks forged to new highs on Wall Street on Friday, despite disappointing economic data.

The good news in fact was the bad news. This is the reality with stocks globally right now. Whatever happens, regardless, it is a driver to push stocks higher.

On Friday jobs data came in far worse than expected. This is good news because it means the Fed won't be increasing rates soon, and won't be slimming its widescale stimulus plans. Got it?

"One number doesn't make a trend, but it takes some of the heat off the economy overheating and inflation moving dramatically higher," Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James told Reuters Thomson Friday.

"This puts less pressure on the Fed to prematurely talk about tapering."

The Labor Department however was cautious on the data.

"Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 266,000 jobs in the month of April, and the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up marginally from 6.0 percent in March. Labor force participation is at its highest point since last August and the number of people expressing hesitancy about returning to work due to the coronavirus is at its lowest point in the pandemic," U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said Friday.

"However, the numbers also show we have a steep climb ahead of us. We have yet to recover roughly eight million jobs that existed prior to the pandemic."

"It's going to take time and effort to heal this economy," Walsh said.

Well with that bout of good news, the markets began roaring again. By the close, the Dow Jones industrials had set a new closing record, jumping 229.23 points or 0.66 percent to 34,777.76.

Likewise, the Standard and Poor's 500 rose 30.98 points or 0.74 percent to 4,232.60.

The Nasdaq Composite added 119.39 points or 0.88 percent to 13,752.20.

While stocks roared on Friday, the U.S. dollar got smashed. The euro soared to 1.2170 by the New York close Friday. The British pound jumped to 1.4002. The Japanese yen strengthened to 108.59. The Swiss franc accelerated to 0.9006.

The Canadian dollar was in demand at 1.2139. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were feverishly sought after, pushing both currencies sharply higher. The Australian dollar finished the day around 0.7851, and the New Zealand dollar at 0.7284.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.76 percent. The German Dax climbed 1.34 percent, while in Paris, France, the CAC 40 jumped 0.45v percent.

On Asian markets, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 82.63 points or 0.28 percent to 29,414.00.

The Australian All Ordinaries climbed 19.20 points or 0.26 percent to 7,325.20.

In China, the mood was not as buoyant. The Shanghai Composite dipped 22.41 points or 0.65 percent to 3,418.87.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 26.81 points or 0.09 percent to 28,610.65.