US stocks climb as investors cheer strong Apple earnings and assess big April jobs report
- US stocks push higher on Friday but were still in line for weekly losses.
- Apple and regional banks stocks were providing upside support for the equity market.
US stocks marched higher Friday as investors focused on gains in Big Tech behemoth Apple and a rebound in regional bank stocks while the April jobs reports came in stronger than anticipated.
The S&P 500 was on course to snap a streak of four consecutive losses. That move was aided by Apple, with iPhone sales leading a beat in fiscal second-quarter earnings.
Meanwhile, PacWest, Western Alliance and shares of other small to mid-sized banks climbed after a punishing sell-off earlier this week. Banks are asking the SEC to stop short-seller attacks on their stocks driven by social-media speculation.
Treasury yields climbed after the US jobs report outstripped expectations. Nonfarm payroll employment soared by 253,000 in April compared with a 180,000 estimate. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%.
"A strong job market will boost earnings and household spending capacity, which is good for the housing market and broader economy. However, a too-strong market means the Fed has to tighten further, dampening that good news and running a higher risk of over-tightening," Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, wrote in a note.
Wall Street's key indexes were still looking at weekly losses.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,098.68, up 0.92%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,443.70, up 0.95% (315.96 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 12,083.76, up 0.98%
Here's what else is happening today:
- Short sellers brought in $400 million in a single day from the selloff in regional banks.
- The dollar's slump will continue as the Fed prepares to pause rate hikes, UBS said.
- The Fed just brought in its final interest-rate hike, billionaire bond investor Jeff Gundlach said.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.1% to $70.65 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.7% to $74.50.
- Gold fell 1.1% to $2,031.90 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield rose 10 basis points to 3.45%.
- Bitcoin edged up 0.4% to $28,974.10.