Stocks pull a U-turn and soar after jobs report, trade talks

NEW YORK (AP) — Global stocks are soaring today and reversing the big losses they suffered just a day ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared almost 600 points in the latest twist in a wild three months for markets.

Hopes for progress in the U.S.-China trade dispute, a strong report on the U.S. jobs market and comments from the head of the U.S. central bank about its interest rate policy all combined to cheer investors.

China's Commerce Ministry said trade talks will be held Monday and Tuesday in Beijing and market watchers are once again looking for signs the world's largest economic powers will make progress toward resolving their dispute. The trade tensions have dragged on for nearly a year and uncertainty over their outcome has dragged down stock indexes around the world.

Meanwhile the Labor Department said U.S. employers added 312,000 jobs last month, a far stronger result than experts had anticipated. U.S. stocks have tumbled over the last three months as investors worried that the economy might slow down dramatically because of a variety of challenges including the trade dispute and rising interest rates.

The stock market's plunge also threatened to shake up the confidence and the spending plans of businesses and consumers. Some analysts said investors were acting as if a recession was on the horizon, despite a lack of evidence that the U.S. economy is struggling.

"It's hard to square recession worries with the strongest job growth we've seen in years," said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research for FTSE Russell. "The strong December jobs report is a net positive for stocks because investors' biggest concern has been slowing growth."