Markets Rocket on Solid Jobs Report
May 02,2025 10:33 am EST
Stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street digested a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for April, which eased recession fears and put the S&P 500 on pace for its longest winning streak in just over two decades.
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 455.06 points, or 1.1%, to 41,208.02.
The much broader index rose 68.89 points, or 1.2%, to 5,673.03. If the S&P 500 closes higher, that would mark its longest winning streak since November 2004
The NASDAQ Composite soared 225.70 points, or 1.3%, to 17,936.44.
The S&P 500 is on pace to rise 2.3% this week, while the Dow is on track for a 2.5% advance. The NASDAQ is up 2.7% week to date.
Payrolls grew by 177,000 in April, above the 133,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated. That figure is still down sharply from the 228,000 added in March but much better than feared after recession worries grew last month. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, in line with expectations.
Investors were already upbeat prior to the strong jobs report after China said that it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S.
Still, Chinese authorities reaffirmed their belief that the U.S. should remove all unilateral tariffs, saying in a statement that “if the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs.”
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 4.29% from Thursday's 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices sagged $1.31 to $57.93 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold sank $80.40 to $3,252.60 U.S.
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