The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose to their highest levels in two weeks on Friday as strong U.S. jobs growth blunted the impact of an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 213,000 jobs last month, the U.S. Labor Department said, topping expectations of 195,000, while the unemployment rate rose from an 18-year low to 4 percent and average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent. The moderate wage growth allayed fears of a strong build-up in inflation pressures. The positive news from the U.S. employment report offset, at least for the moment, heightened trade tensions between the United States and China. The two countries slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other's imports on Friday. Beijing accused the White House of triggering the "largest-scale trade war." U.S. stock futures traded downward on Friday morning after the tariffs went into effect but reversed course after the release of the jobs report. By the market open, stocks were rising. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.24 points, or 0.55 percent, to 24,489.98, the S&P 500 gained 25.88 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,762.49 and the Nasdaq Composite added 101.94 points, or 1.34 percent, to 7,688.37. All of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors posted gains. Nasdaq biotech index jumped 3.6 percent. Besides Biogen, technology heavyweights Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc provided the biggest boost to the markets. The S&P technology index rose 1.3 percent.
