Wall St jumps as December jobs report eases rate concerns

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 223,000 jobs in December, Labor Department data showed, while the 0.3% increase in average earnings was lower than expected and down from the previous month.

The November numbers were revised to show an increase of 256,000 in non-farm payrolls and a 0.4% increase in median income.

“The Fed will look at these numbers and say the labor market is still strong enough,” said chief Richard Flax. Investment Officer in Moneyfarm.

“Maybe if you want to be very optimistic, you’d say the increase in average hourly earnings is a positive thing, but that’s a single data point.”

Another set of data showed US services activity contracted in December for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years, amid more signs of easing inflation, amid weak demand.

large technology and other growth stocks such as Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and Meta Platforms Inc rose between 0.5% and 2.0%, helped by a decline in 10-year US Treasury yields.

Tesla Inc dropped 4.2% after the company cut electric-car prices China Second time in less than three months.

Barring healthcare stocks, all major S&P 500 indexes were in the green led by gains in energy stocks.

A resilient labor market has driven the economy through consumer spending, but could prompt the Fed to raise its target interest rate above the 5.1% peak estimated last month and keep it there for some time.

Earlier this week, minutes of the Fed’s December meeting showed the central bank was laser-focused on fighting inflation, even as officials agreed to slow the pace of rate hikes to limit risks to economic growth. .

Money market bets on a 25-basis point hike at the February policy meeting rose to 73% and the terminal rate was seen below 5% by June.

Investors will also focus on comments from Fed officials scheduled to speak later on Friday.

At 10:28 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 363.92 points, or 1.11%, at 33,294.00, the S&P 500 was up 34.88 points, or 0.92%, at 3,842.98, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 63.53 points, or 0.62. %, at 10,368.77.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc slumped 15.7% after Reuters reported that the home goods retailer was preparing for bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks.

Advancing declining issues led to a 4.77-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.70-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P Indices recorded 13 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 52 new lows.

The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification.