The main US stock market indices opened higher on Thursday as higher jobs data eases interest-rate worries. Nasdaq rose over 0.42% at open at 26,148.52 level, S&P 500 was up 0.54% to open at 7,523.47, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.65% to 52,644.46 shortly after open.
US job growth fell short of expectations in June, adding just 57,000 payrolls compared to the 115,000 forecast by Dow Jones economists. Despite the hiring slowdown, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked down to 4.2%, beating expectations that it would hold steady at 4.3%.
This mixed economic data follows a downward session on Wall Street, where major indexes closed lower on Wednesday as investors pulled back from semiconductor stocks.
“Just when investors thought they had the labor market figured out, the June jobs report threw them a curveball,” Bret Kenwell at eToro told Bloomberg.
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Nike Inc., Boeign Co. and Apple Inc. were up over 3%, while Home Depot Inc. and Travelers Cos. Inc. fell nearly 1%.
The dollar weakened across all major developed currencies following the latest data. Money markets reacted swiftly, with traders slashing the probability of a Fed rate hike this month to roughly 20%, down from 33%. Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued their downward trend, falling further below pre-war levels.
On the currencies front, the Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%, whereas euro rose 0.6% to $1.1444 and British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3367; The Japanese yen rose 0.9% at 161.06 per dollar.
Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, rose 2.7% to $61,678.92.
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