Bye, Brexit blues: S&P 500 near high, Dow up 251

NEW YORK — The Standard & Poor's 500 index narrowly missed setting a new closing high Friday as a stronger-than-expected jobs report sparked a monster rally and Wall Street finally recouped all of its 'Brexit'-related losses.

The government reported that 287,000 jobs were created in June, far above the 180,000 estimate. The robust June jobs report is a key data point that will go a long way towards reducing U.S. recession fears on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 rose 32.00 points, or 1.5%, to 2129.90, stopping just shy of its record closing high of 2130.82 set May 21. The market benchmark briefly crossed over that level in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 251 points, or 1.4%, to 18,147 for its highest level since May 2015. The blue-chip index rose for the sixth day out of the last eight sessions and has more than recovered from its 870.83-point drop it experienced in the two days after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 1.6% and back to it's pre-'Brexit' level.

The jobs report sends an important message to investors, says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab: "The pickup on job growth means we are not falling into an economic abyss."

Job growth surges in June as employers add whopping 287,000 jobs

Sonders says the good news will be greeted as good news on Wall Street, but probably could put an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve back on the table for later this year, most likely in December after the presidential election. Investors that had been ruling out any rate hikes until next year might have to rethink their views, she adds.

The May report came in way below expectations with just 38,000 new jobs created. As a result, Wall Street was looking for a sharp rebound that would suggest the economy is still creating jobs at a fast clip. Investors were also looking for good economic news following the scare caused by Britain's vote last week to leave the European Union.

The June jobs report delivered on both fronts.

"It’s a critical report in the sense that markets (were) looking for something soothing after all the global uncertainty surrounding Brexit and politics both here and abroad," says Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America. "It’s also important because it tells us (that) last month’s miserable 38,000 gain was a statistical anomaly (and not) part of a trend."

Strong jobs report helps debunk recession fears

Economists had forecast 180,000 new jobs in June and a tick up in the unemployment rate to 4.8%, from 4.7%, according to Bloomberg. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.9%.

North says a strong number will likely give U.S. stocks a boost as it will "alleviate recession fears."