U.S. stocks turned positive on Friday, reversing an earlier dip inspired by stronger-than-expected June jobs data, and leaving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on track to extend their longest winning streak since March.
How stocks are trading
-
S&P 500
SPX,
+0.27%
gained 2 points, or 0.1%, to 3905. -
Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.26%
gained 72 points, or 0.2%, to 31450. -
Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.47%
was flat at 11622.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 347 points, or 1.12%, to 31385, the S&P 500
SPX,
increased 58 points, or 1.5%, to 3903, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 259 points, or 2.28%, to 11621.
What’s happening
Friday’s June jobs report showed more robust growth in the American labor market last month than had been expected, confirming fears of more large interest rates rises from the Federal Reserve, so analysts initially blamed the number for hurting stocks.
The U.S. created a robust 372,000 new jobs in June, substantially higher than the 250,000 expected, according to a poll of economists by the Wall Street Journal.
See: U.S. creates 372,000 jobs in June. Strong labor market a bulwark against recession
Market strategists attributed the initial market reaction to the jobs data as an example of the “good news is bad news” dynamic asserting itself. But stocks eventually turned higher on Friday, even as Treasury yields remained elevated.
Read: Markets signal recession threat: Why stocks are taking it in stride — for now
“We’re still in the midst of positive momentum from earlier in the week, so when the selloff failed, the next tactic was to move higher. Nothing else really changed,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, in comments to MarketWatch.
The S&P 500 index has enjoyed four consecutive days of gains this week, its best winning run since the end of March.
Still, the S&P 500 is down roughly 20% since the start of the year, as investors hope that fears about the second-quarter corporate earnings reporting season are already baked in. The bulk of earnings reports will be published over the coming weeks.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield
TMUBMUSD10Y,
were higher on Friday, with the yield on the 10-year up 5 basis points to 3.06%.
Single-stock movers
-
Caesers Entertainment Inc.
CZR,
-1.49%
and Expedia Group Inc.
EXPE,
-0.51%
were down 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively, on Friday. -
Twitter Inc.
TWTR,
-3.84%
shares we taking a hit following a Washington Post report that led investors to suspect that Elon Musk might be trying to back out of his deal to take the company private. Twitter was down roughly 3.4%. -
PayPal Holdings
PYPL,
-0.67%
was also down 1.6% after paring its losses from earlier. -
McKesson Corporation
MCK,
+3.66%
and Centene Inc.
CNC,
+3.35%
were both up more than 3%. -
Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
+4.09%
was up 3.4%, helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Other markets
-
Asian equities mostly responded positively to the overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK,
+0.10%
pared its advance following news of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, adding 0.1%. But China’s Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
-0.25%
fell 0.25%, despite expectations Beijing is considering further fiscal stimulus. -
WTI crude
CL.1,
+1.01%
was up modestly at roughly $103 a barrel after seeing volatile moves on Friday. The benchmark rallied 4.3% on Thursday, after data showed that US oil inventories of 428 million barrels, about 10% below the five year average for this time of year, according to Enercom Analytics. -
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the buck’s strength against a basket of rivals,
DXY,
-0.23%
gained 0.2% to 107.3, close to a fresh 19-year high. -
Gold
GC00,
+0.28%
was up 0.1% on the day after snapping a seven-day losing streak on Thursday. -
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
+1.12%
is down 1.5% to $21280 after gaining ground in three of the last four days.
