U.S. stocks rose Friday after a much weaker-than-expected September jobs report raised hopes the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady this month. The Nasdaq Composite hit an all-time intraday high led by Nvidia, while the S&P 500 and Dow also gained, though all three pulled back from their session highs as Treasury yields rebounded.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1%, touching an all-time high earlier in the session before easing back. The S&P 500 gained 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 240 points, or 0.5%. Treasury yields fell initially on the jobs data but then rebounded, pulling equities off their best levels of the day.
For the week, the picture was mixed. The Dow finished down about 1.3%. The S&P was little changed, off 0.2%. The Nasdaq was the lone gainer among the major averages, up 0.5% on the week in its third straight positive session.
Nvidia leads chipmakers to record highs
Tech shares drove Friday's advance as risk appetite returned to Wall Street. Nvidia hit an all-time high for the first time since May. CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and AMD also touched record levels. AMD shares rose nearly 3% on the day.
September payrolls badly miss expectations
The jobs report behind the rally showed the U.S. economy added just 29,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%. Economists had forecast 84,000 new payrolls and a steady 4.1% unemployment rate.
According to Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic: "This is the exact kind of number the market wanted from a labor standpoint."
Traders see higher odds of a Fed hold
The soft report shifted rate expectations. Fed funds futures implied a 77% likelihood the central bank holds rates steady at its October meeting, up from roughly 76% the prior day, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Even so, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed 1.8 basis points to 5.252% on Friday, reversing some of Thursday's pullback ahead of the Federal Reserve's Oct. 27-28 meeting.
Source: CNBC
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