Strong gains on Wall Street – Curevac shares gain more than 23 percent

new York A solid US jobs report amid easing wage pressures has allayed interest rate worries on Wall Street. The Dow Jones index and the broader S&P 500 index each gained 1.6 percent to 33,453 and 3868 points on Friday afternoon. The index of the technology exchange Nasdaq was 1.7 percent higher at 10,482 points.

In December, 223,000 new nonfarm jobs were created in the US. That was slightly more than analysts had expected, but less than in November. The separate unemployment rate fell surprisingly to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in November, while wage pressures also eased.

Investment expert Richard Carter of wealth manager Quilter Cheviot said the data showed that the US economy was largely intact despite the jump in inflation. The US Federal Reserve will therefore stick to its tightening of monetary policy. “The Fed will continue to hike rates, but apparently at a less aggressive pace,” said economist Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securites.