US stocks experienced a massive rally on Friday, thanks in large part to the unexpectedly strong jobs report and shares of regional banks managing to climb back from earlier lows.
At closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index skyrocketed by 546.64 points as the S&P500 rose by 75.03 points. The Nasdaq Composite finished in the green with 269.01 points, or 2.25%.
The Friday figures came on the heels of a US jobs report that revealed the US economy managed to add some 253,000 jobs for the month of April, exceeding initial forecasts that suggested stats would range below the 200,000 mark.
The report also outlined the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, with the labor force participation rate holding at 62.6%.
The jobs report was not the only factor in Friday's closing numbers. In fact, the spike was also partly due to a rally in Apple's shares and the since-established sentiment that the US banking system appears to be on the up and up.
JPMorgan Chase helped improve the overall feeling on the banking crisis after issuing an earlier note that Western Alliance, Zions Bancorp ad Comerica had been "substantially mispriced" due to short-sells.
Banking shares had plummeted earlier this week amid investor fears that the US was on the verge of a financial crisis the likes of the 2008 economic downfall that resulted in mass layoffs, foreclosures and bank bailouts. The situation was further compounded by the Federal Reserve's interest rate spike and JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of the First Republic Bank.
The US' current banking crisis kicked off at the start of the year with the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and the subsequent demise of Signature Bank. The First Republic Bank fall was the second-largest financial institution to fail in US history.