Stocks mixed, US data indicate no recession

Stocks were mixed on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 percent.

However, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.3 percent and the Nikkei 225 plunged 3.5 percent.

Also on Friday, the US Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 215,000 in March while the unemployment rate rose to 5 percent from 4.9 percent.

Darrell Cronk, president of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said: “All this talk about how 2016 is the year the U.S. enters a recession is over. The economic data continues to validate that we’re not, which has been what’s leading stocks higher since February.”