WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction earlier in the session, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Nasdaq is up 95.38 points or 0.7 percent at 13,774.42, the S&P 500 is up 18.90 points or 0.4 percent at 4,430.49 and the Dow is up 33.82 points or 0.1 percent at 33,956.08.
The strength that has emerged on Wall Street comes following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing employment increased by less than expected in June.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 209,000 jobs in June, while economists had expected employment to shoot up by 225,000 jobs.
The report also showed the surges in employment in April and May were downwardly revised to 217,000 jobs and 306,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a combined downward revision of 110,000.
While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point later this month, the data has led to renewed optimism that will be the end of the central bank's rate-hiking cycle.
Chris Low, Chief Economist at FHN Financial, said the smaller than expected increase in jobs combined with the downward revision to the two previous session suggest the job growth trend is gradually cooling.
'The Fed should be quite pleased with this,' Low said. 'Job growth of 209k is still too much given their goal is a rising unemployment rate, but the FOMC is always happiest when the data show progress in their desired direction.'
He added, 'In a sense, this is the best possible jobs report, then, threading the needle between too strong and too weak.'
Sector News
Oil service stocks have moved skyrocketed over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 6.1 percent to its best intraday level in three months.
The rally by oil service comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, as crude for August delivery is jumping $1.60 to $73.40 a barrel.
Considerable strength is also visible among airline stocks, which are rebounding after falling sharply in the previous session. Following the 3.8 percent nosedive on Wednesday, the NYSE Arca Airline Index is soaring by 3.5 percent.
Financial stocks have also shown a significant move to the upside on the day, with the KBW Bank Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index surging by 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Oil producer, steel and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength, while pharmaceutical stocks have moved to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.041 percent.
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