Abhay Singh
Following an unexpectedly positive jobs report that offered investors hope for the future of the economy, stocks rose on Friday.
The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.22% to 18,137.85, while the S&P 500 increased 0.9% to 5,751.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high of 42,352.75, up 341.16 points, or 0.81%.
“This is a reassuring reading that the U.S. economy remains resilient”
After data revealed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 254,000 jobs in September, considerably exceeding the 150,000 increase predicted by Dow Jones experts, stocks surged. Despite forecasts that it would remain stable at 4.2%, the jobless rate decreased slightly to 4.1%.
Michelle Cluver, head of ETF model portfolios at Global X said “After a summer of weak labor data readings, this is a reassuring reading that the U.S. economy remains resilient, supported by a healthy labor market, We remain in an environment where good economic news is good news for the equity market as it increases the potential for a soft landing.”
The Nasdaq’s outperformance on Friday may be explained by the megacap tech stocks that were rising, like Tesla, Amazon, and Netflix. During the session, the S&P 500’s leading sector was financials, which rose 1.6% and closed at a record.
Both JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo saw increases of over 3%. Conversely, small-cap stocks saw a strong rally as well, with the Russell 2000 up 1.5%.
Friday’s bounce erased losses seen in recent days
The gains from Friday eliminated the losses from previous days. Growing geopolitical unrest in the Middle East resulted in a rocky start for stocks in October, following the market’s exceptionally robust first nine months of the year.
The Dow increased by 0.09%, but the S&P 500 ended the week up 0.22%. The week saw a 0.1% increase on the Nasdaq. On Friday, the price of crude oil increased once more, bringing the rise for the week to almost 9%.
The Middle East conflict has been more intense since Iran attacked Israel with missiles, which has caused oil prices to rise.
The S&P 500 energy sector is up 7% this week as energy stocks have surged along with the oil price. The group had its greatest week since October 2022 during that week.
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