Stocks closed sharply higher on Wall Street, erasing their losses for the week, after the government reported a cooldown in hiring last month.

For markets that was a welcome sign that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight inflation by slowing the economy with high interest rates might be making some progress. The S&P 500 rose 1.3% Friday, its biggest gain since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%. and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%.

U.S. employers added 175,000 jobs last month, down sharply from a big increase in March. Apple jumped after announcing a mammoth $110 billion stock buyback.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 rose 63.59 points, or 1.3%, to 5,127.79.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 450.02 points, or 1.2%, to 38,675.68.

The Nasdaq composite rose 315.37 points, or 2%, to 16,156.33.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 19.61 points, or 1%, to 2,035.72.