Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading in New York City.
The S&P 500 rose on Friday after an expectation-defying jobs report gave investors confidence around the health of the economy.
The broad index rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 114 points, or 0.3%.
Stocks rallied after data showed nonfarm payrolls grew by 254,000 jobs in September, far outpacing the forecasted gain of 150,000 from economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% despite expectations for it to hold steady at 4.2%.
"After a summer of weak labor data readings, this is a reassuring reading that the U.S. economy remains resilient, supported by a healthy labor market," said Michelle Cluver, head of ETF model portfolios at Global X. "We remain in an environment where good economic news is good news for the equity market as it increases the potential for a soft landing."
Tesla, Amazon and Netflix were among the megacap tech names climbing on Friday, which can partially explain the Nasdaq's outperformance. On the other end of the spectrum, small cap stocks also rallied, with the Russell 2000 up more than 1%.
But Friday's bounce wasn't enough to fully erase losses seen in recent days. Mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East gave way to a shaky start in October for stocks, a turn after the market posted an unusually strong first nine months of the year.
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All three of the major indexes are poised to snap three-week win streaks. The Dow and Nasdaq were each off by 0.2% on the week. The S&P 500 was poised to shed 0.1%.
Money Report
Crude oil prices rose again on Friday, bringing the week-to-date gain close to 9%. Oil has been pushed higher as a result of intensifying conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel.
Energy stocks have jumped this week as oil rallied, with the S&P 500 sector up more than 7%. With that, the group is on pace to notch its biggest weekly gain in almost two years.
Abercrombie ready to rebound, JPMorgan says. Shares jump 8%
It's been a wild ride for Abercrombie & Fitch shares this year. Although the stock has tallied a giant 60% gain this year, shares have tumbled nearly 20% over the past three months. JPMorgan expects the teen apparel retailer can turn it around, as its brand gained in popularity over the back-to-school season, and added it to the firm's positive catalyst watch list. Shares are trading up more than 8% on the news.
JPMorgan's Matthew Boss raised his price target by $1 to $195, which suggests about 45% upside from Thursday's close. That would put the stock a touch below its 52-week high.
—Christina Cheddar Berk
Nasdaq outperforms as Wall Street pops on strong jobs report
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped about 1% to lead the major averages higher after Friday's blockbuster jobs report. That gain puts the benchmark on track for its biggest one-day advance since Sept. 12.
Nvidia and Netflix popped more than 1% to boost the Nasdaq. Amazon also contributed to the gain with a 2.2% advance.
— Fred Imbert
Small caps see outsized gains
Small-cap stocks saw unique strength in Friday's trading session.
The Russell 2000 climbed more than 1% in afternoon trading. By comparison, the broad S&P 500 was up just around 0.5%.
Despite Friday's advance, the Russell 2000 is still tracking to end the week down about 0.8%.
— Alex Harring
Crude oil set for more than 9% weekly gain on Mideast war fears
U.S. crude oil rose nearly 1% on Friday, extending this week's gains on the risk that war in the Middle East will disrupt supplies.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate added 64 cents to $74.35 per barrel by 11:26 am ET. WTI is ahead more than 9% this week after President Joe Biden suggested Thursday that the U.S. was discussing a possible Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities.
OPEC+ has enough spare oil capacity to compensate for a loss of Iranian crude exports, according to analysts. But the market is worried that an Israel strike could provoke Iran to disrupt the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
— Spencer Kimball
Abercrombie, Spirit, Rivian among stocks making biggest midday moves
Check out the companies making moves in midday trading:
- Abercrombie & Fitch - Shares of the teen apparel retailer jumped nearly 9% after JPMorgan added it to its positive catalyst watch list. Analyst Matthew Boss raised the stock's price target and third-quarter earnings estimate/
- Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways — Ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit plunged more than 26% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that it is potentially filing for bankruptcy after its failed merger with peer airline firm JetBlue. JetBlue shares jumped more than 15.5% on the news.
- Rivian Automotive — The electric vehicle maker slipped 8% after cutting its annual production guidance for 2024, citing a supply shortage.
For more, read here.
— Pia Singh
Vistra among the 27 stocks hitting fresh 52-week highs
27 stocks in the S&P 500 were trading at new 52-week highs on Friday, including power company Vistra. The utility stock leads the broad market index on the week, seeing week-to-date gains of nearly 17%.
Among those 27 names, 19 hit new all-time highs. Here are some that hit the milestone:
- Meta trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May 2012
- Exxon trading at all-time highs back to when it was listed on the NYSE in 1920
- Aflac trading at all-time high levels back through our history in 1973
- MetLife trading at all-time high levels back to when it became a publicly traded company in April 2000
- Caterpillar trading at all-time high levels back to when it first began trading on the NYSE in 1929
- GE Vernova trading at all-time highs back to its spin-off from GE in April 2024
- Constellation Energy trading at all-time high levels back to its spin-off from Exelon in January 2022
- Arista Networks trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in June 2014
Meanwhile, Modern hit a new 52-week low during the session. The biotechnology stock was trading at lows not seen since September 2020.
— Sean Conlon
Amazon can save $20 billion annually by using autonomous vans, says JMP
Amazon can potentially save more than $20 billion a year by deploying autonomous technology with electric Rivian vans for middle-mile transport and ditching internal combustion engine vans, according to JMP Securities.
Fuel costs about 25% to 30% of the per-mile costs in middle- and last-mile delivery, analyst Nicolas Jones noted. Electric vehicles can cut per-mile energy costs by nearly 50%, he said. On top of that, wages and benefits account for more than 40% of the cost per mile, he added.
"By eventually utilizing autonomous driving technology for middle mile, in combination with deploying electric vehicles for last-mile delivery, we see an opportunity for AMZN to reduce shipping costs by ~20% globally ($20B) over time; this reflects approximately $1.15 of savings per mile," Jones said, noting that this is a medium- to long-term opportunity.
In the near term, he sees the potential of up to $7 billion in annual savings globally as Amazon converts its last-mile fleet to Rivian vans.
Shares of Amazon are up about 20% year to date.
— Michelle Fox
China stock ETFs headed for fourth straight weekly gain
ETFs tied to the Chinese stock market continued to ride high this week, on track for their fourth straight weekly advances. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has soared 10% this week, while the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) has popped 10.6% in that time.
— Fred Imbert
Energy sector poised to see best week since 2022
Energy stocks in the S&P 500 are heading for their best week in almost two years.
The sector has climbed about 6.8% this week, making it the best performer of the 11 that comprise the S&P 500. That leg up comes as oil prices have rallied with rising geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
If that advance holds, it would mark the group's biggest weekly gain since a week in late October of 2022. For reference, the energy sector jumped more than 8% during that week.
Diamondback Energy has led the sector up this week with a rally of more than 12%. APA followed, climbing more than 9%.
Every stock in the sector is tracking for gains this week.
— Alex Harring
Hospitality, health care lead job gains
The strong September jobs report showed big months for some of the categories that have fueled the economy's post pandemic rebound. These were the top three areas for job growth last month:
- Leisure and hospitality: 78,000 jobs
- Health care and social assistance: 71,700 jobs
- Government: 31,000 jobs.
Check out a full chart of job growth by category here.
— Jesse Pound
Rally pulls stocks out of weekly rut
Friday's advances brought the three major indexes near flat on the week.
With the big gains in the session, the three major indexes were all within striking distance of their flatlines for the week. Heading into Friday, the Dow and S&P 500 were both off by 0.7%, while the Nasdaq was down 1.1%.
— Alex Harring
Stocks open higher
Stocks opened Friday's session higher, regaining ground after a rough week.
The Dow traded up more than 200 points, which equates to a gain of around 0.6%, shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively.
— Alex Harring
Blowout jobs diminish the idea of more jumbo rate cuts, strategist says
The blowout jobs report squashed the idea that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by another half point next month, according to Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
"The monster upside surprise suggests that the labor market may actually be a picture of strength, not weakness, and it completely dismisses the idea that the Fed could even contemplate another 50bps cut in November," Shah said, adding that recession risks have also collapsed.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday he expects the central bank to move in quarter-point increments at least through the end of the year.
— Yun Li
September jobs report easily beats expectations
The U.S. economy added 254,000 jobs in September, easily topping expectations. Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast an increase of 150,000 jobs. The unemployment rate, which was expected to hold steady at 4.2%, dipped to 4.1%.
— Fred Imbert
Spirit Airlines, Rivian among the names making moves premarket
Some stocks are making big moves in premarket trading:
- Spirit Airlines, JetBlue – Spirit plunged more than 38% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the discount airliner is considering filing for bankruptcy. Shares of peer airline firm JetBlue, which was previously in talks to merge with Spirit, advanced nearly 6%.
- Zim Integrated Shipping Services – The international shipping company's stock fell more than 9% after U.S. dockworkers and the United States Maritime Alliance agreed to a tentative deal to end the strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The news weighed on other international shipping stocks as well. Danish shipping giant Maersk fell more than 8% before paring some losses, while German shipper Hapag-Lloyd fell more than 13%.
- Rivian – Shares tumbled 8% after the electric-vehicle maker cut its annual production guidance to between 47,000 and 49,000 vehicles, versus its prior guidance of 57,000 vehicles. Rivian said it is experiencing a production disruption due to a supply shortage.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
Here's what to expect from the U.S. jobs report
Check out the Dow Jones estimates for Friday's September payrolls report, which is slated for release at 8:30 a.m.:
- Nonfarm payrolls: 150,000 up from 142,000 in August
- Unemployment rate: 4.2%
- Average hourly wages: 0.3% month-over-month gain; 3.8% increase year over year
— Fred Imbert
Hong Kong markets resume rally as investors weigh China stimulus, oil gains
SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday as concerns over Middle East tensions keep investors on edge in the run up to September's U.S. payrolls report.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is up over 2% at 2:30 p.m. local time, while South Korea's Kospi traded 0.36% higher.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.67% to close at 8,150 points. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.22% to close at 38,635.62 points.
—Lee Ying Shan
U.S. port strike ends
The longshoremen's port strike ended on Thursday, just two days after it began.
"The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues," The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance announced in a joint statement.
About 50,000 members of the ILA union walked off the job earlier this week. This strike was the first by the ILA since 1977.
— Lisa Kailai Han, Kif Leswing
Where the major averages stand
Here's where the major averages stand for the week ahead of Friday's trading:
- The S&P 500 is down 0.67%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.71%
- The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.11%
- The Russell 2000 is down 2.00%
— Lisa Kailai Han
Spirit Airlines plummets 24% after WSJ reports the carrier is exploring bankruptcy
Shares of Spirit Airlines cratered 24% in extended trading Thursday night.
The action came after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar, that the budget airline is in talks with its bondholders over a possible filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Generally, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy involves having a business reorganize its finances and develop a plan to repay its creditors.
Back in March, Spirit and JetBlue Airways terminated their agreement to merge, weeks after the Justice Department won a lawsuit to stop the deal. The DOJ said that the merger would result in higher fares for budget-conscious customers.
Spirit Airlines have been languishing in 2024, down more than 86%. Shares tumbled to a new 52-week low on Thursday, closing lower by about 3.5%.
— Darla Mercado
Energy continues to lead S&P 500's performance on Thursday
Mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have sent oil prices higher this week. On Thursday, the energy sector continued to be the outperformer in the S&P 500.
Eight of the broader index's 11 sectors traded lower on Thursday. The consumer discretionary sector was the laggard and ended the day 1.28% lower.
Eight of the 11 sectors are also on pace to end the week lower. Consumer discretionary stocks are again the laggard, with a 2.81% week-to-date decline. Energy, the best performing sector, is currently up 5.89% on the week and on pace to notch its best weekly performance since March 2023.
— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes
Stock futures open marginally lower
Stock futures were trading marginally lower on Thursday night.
Dow futures slipped just under 0.1% shortly after 6 p.m. ET, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures retreated 0.2%.
— Lisa Kailai Han
