Stocks rallied Friday after a much stronger than expected U.S. jobs report eased concerns about economic growth, and China said it had reached a consensus in principle with the U.S. during trade talks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at all-time highs and the Dow ended just shy of a record, as all three benchmarks indexes rose more than 1% for the week. The government reported nonfarm payrolls rose by 128,000 in October, which was much more than expected given the assumption that the GM strike would tamp down gains, and followed upward revisions for August and September. And the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point as expected. The jobs data suggests the U.S. may be enjoying what is sometimes called a "Goldilocks economy" - hot enough to ease fears of an imminent recession but cool enough to keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates to rein in inflation.
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