WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a notable rebound, although the Dow saw continued weakness.
The major averages ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 237.33 points or 0.5 percent to 51,285.73, the S&P 500 rose 23.13 points or 0.3 percent to 7,376.86 and the Nasdaq jumped 264.43 points or 1.1 percent to 24,579.42.
For the week, the Nasdaq plunged by 3.4 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled by 2.7 percent and the Dow slid by 0.9 percent.
The rebound on Wall Street largely reflected bargain hunting following the substantial pullback seen during Thursday's session.
The tech-led sell-off dragged the Nasdaq down to its lowest closing level in over six months, while the S&P 500 plunged to a three-month closing low.
Semiconductor stocks have helped lead the way back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiking by 4.2 percent following the 12.3 percent nosedive seen on Thursday.
Substantial strength was also visible among networking stock, as reflected by the 4.1 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.
Outside of the tech sector, gold stocks moved sharply higher despite a decrease by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.6 percent.
Airline and oil service stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while housing stocks showed a notable move to the downside.
In U.S. economic news, a closely watched report released by the Labor Department showed employment in the U.S. increased by far more than anticipated in the month of October.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 165,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for the addition of 62,000 jobs.
The report also showed employment surged by an upwardly revised 186,000 jobs in August and climbed by an upwardly revised 60,000 jobs in September, reflecting a net upward revision of 84,000 jobs.
The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in October from 4.2 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.
'The latest jobs data suggest labor market conditions are tightening, and with inflation well above target, that adds to the case for a December rate hike,' said Michael Pearce, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
He added, 'However, given most of the core inflation overshoot we expect is tied to spillovers from higher energy prices and AI-related pressures, continued falls in tech stocks and oil prices could eliminate the prospect of an additional hike in early 2027.'
Meanwhile, preliminary data released by the University of Michigan showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of November.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 51.0 in November from 48.0 in October. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.1 percent.
The major European markets also showed notable moves to the downside. The German DAX Index tumbled by 1.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw modest weakness after trending higher over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.2 basis points to 4.859 percent.
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