Stocks rally Friday, pushing the three main stock-market gauges past the levels they enjoyed prior to a U.K. vote to exit the European Union, dubbed Brexit, took global markets on a roller-coaster ride. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 171 points, or 1%, to 18,068–57 points above its pre-Brexit levels. The S&P 500 index soared 21 points, or 1%, to 2,119, about 5 points better than its close prior to the Brexit fallout, and the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 50 points, or 1%, to 4,926, 16 points more than its close the day before the closely watched U.K. referendum. On June 23, the U.K. voted to secede from the EU, which roiled markets world-wide on the following trading day, as investors stressed over the implications for the euro and the British pound , which touched a three-decade low against the dollar. Sparking Friday’s rally was a better-than-expected jobs report, which showed that the U.S. created 287,000 new jobs in June. The employment report offered a far better picture of the labor market and the overall economy than an earlier May reading, which indicated that only 38,000 jobs were created. Against that backdrop, investors are somewhat heartened that the U.S. economy may be on a better economic footing than its peers around the globe.
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