NEW YORK, New York – Strong jobs growth saw Wall Street’s main indices forge ahead on Friday, to new record highs.

“Although the data bodes well for the recovery in the U.S., the rise in earnings year on year of 4.9% does highlight worries about wage inflation,” Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown told Reuters Friday.

“But the numbers aren’t likely to be hot enough to blow the Federal Reserve off its course of gradually tapering its stimulus programme.”

The Dow Jones industrials rallied 203.72 points or 0.56 percent to 36,327.95.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to 15,971.59.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 appreciated 17.47 points or 0.37 percent to 4,697.53.

The U.S. dollar drifted lower after trading buoyantly in Asia earlier. The euro nudged up to 1.1564 approaching the New York close Friday. The British pound inched higher to 1.3485. The Japanese yen, going against the trend, strengthened to 113.35. The Swiss franc was little changed at 0.9121.

The Canadian dollar was a tad higher at 1.2447. The Australian dollar eased to 0.7397. The New Zealand dollar was changing hands at 0.7120.

On overseas equity markets, the CAC 40 in Paris strengthened 0.76 percent. GThe German Dax rose 0.15 percent. The FTSE 100 in London added 0.33 percent.

Stocks on Asian markets retreated on Friday, although the Australian stock market made a modest gain.

The Australian All Ordinaries added 30.90 points or 0.40 percent to 7,777.20.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo slid 182.80 points or 0.61 percent to 29,611.57.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 354.68 points or 1.41 percent to close Friday at 24,870.51.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite lost 35.30 points or 1.00 percent to 3,491.57.