NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks ended solidly higher on May 3 on the back of a slowdown in hiring and unemployment uptick – fueling hope that the central bank could start lowering interest rates soon.

Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2 per cent to 38,675.68, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.3 per cent to 5,127.79.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index surged 2 per cent to 16,156.33.

The Federal Reserve has been holding rates at a high level for months to cool the economy and bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target, and the latest employment report could provide more confidence that easing is taking place.

The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April according to the Department of Labour, significantly less than analysts expected.

The jobless rate edged up to 3.9 per cent and salary gains slowed as well, in encouraging signs for inflation.

“It was good enough to show the market that the economy should continue to grow, which is a good thing for earnings,” Mr Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com, said of the jobs report.

At the same time, the figures were likely to “validate” Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s belief that the next policy move is unlikely to be a rate hike.

Among individual companies, Apple shares bounced nearly six percent after announcing an unprecedented US$110 billion (S$150 billion) share buyback, along with mixed earnings. AFP