US stocks soared on Friday after the latest labour data came in better than expected, easing concern of an imminent slowdown in the world's largest economy.
The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points or 1.2% to 42,813 after the opening bell. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2%.
The S&P 500 advanced 1% to reclaim 6,000 points for the first time since late February. All eleven sectoral indices were trading in green led by telecom, energy and consumer discretionary.
The US unemployment rate held at 4.2%, while wage growth accelerated, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labour market report wraps up a week of disappointing economic data that included a further increase in applications for jobless benefits and weaker services activity, Bloomberg reported.
Wall Street is on pace for meaningful gains for the week. The S&P 500 and Dow are up nearly 2% and 1.5%, respectively, week to date, while the Nasdaq is up more than 2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond advanced eight basis points to 4.47% as faster-than-expected US job and wage growth prompted markets to trim back bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
The US dollar strengthened against major currencies. The dollar index gained 0.5% to 99.22. The yen fell as much as 0.9% against the greenback, while the euro and pound declined 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.
Spot gold prices were down 0.3% to $3,343.4 an ounce.
International benchmark Brent oil jumped 1.4% to trade above $66 per barrel.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
