Stocks end with strong gains after jobs report

Updated: July 5, 2013 4:55PM NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended with a surge Friday after traders decided that a healthy job market mattered more than the Federal Reserve scaling back its economic stimulus. After the government reported strong hiring for June, traders and investors struggled over how to react. At first, they pushed stocks higher because the report was better than expected. Then they pushed stocks lower because improved hiring last month made it more likely the Federal Reserve could ease back on its bond buying. After waffling early, investors and traders finally settled on an optimistic outlook. The Standard & Poor’s 500 had its strongest performance in three weeks. “In general, I...