Stocks hit new records despite jobs letdown

Stock markets soared to new records Friday morning, despite a disappointing jobs report that came in well below expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 169 points, or 0.5 percent, setting a new record and briefly brushing 34,700 in early trading.

The S&P 500 rose 33 points, or 0.7 percent, reaching a new peak of 3,233.

The upswing follows a Labor Department report showing that the economy added 266,000 jobs in April, about a quarter of the million jobs economists had expected.

The tepid showing, however, relieved some nerves among traders, who have worried that an overheating economy would lead to inflation and push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Bond yields fell on the news, an indication that traders were less concerned about inflation.