US open: Semiconductor stocks push Wall Street higher
Gains for technology stocks and a better-than-expected US jobs report for June pushed Wall Street higher.
As of 1850 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials is gaining 0.45% or 94.91 points to 21,415.89, with the S&P 500 up 0.65% or 15.66 points at 2,425.54 and the Nasdaq Composite 1.17% or 71.18 points to 6,160.80.
US non-farm payrolls increased by 222,000 last month, according to the US Department of Labor, exceeding forecasts for an increase of 177,000.
Friday's data came alongside a combined 47,000 positive revision to to figures for the previous two months.
Unemployment surprised by ticking up by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.4%, but that was entirely due to growth in the labour force.
Economists had been expecting a 177,000 person increase and that the unemployment rate would be steady at 4.3%.
From a sector standpoint, the best performing areas of the market were: Home Construction (3.35%), Business Training (3.17%) and Toys (2.29%).
Acting as a backdrop, traders were keeping a close eye on government bond yields around the world given recent sharp increases which had been weighing on shares prices.
Yet despite Friday's jobs numbers the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury was up by just two basis point at 2.39%.
That came alongside a 2.92% drop for front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures that took them to $44.23 a barrel on NYMEX.
In company news, stock in Sears Holdings was down 3.4% after announcing it would close eight of its namesake department stores and 35 Kmart establishments.
Semiconductor stocks were wanted, with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's sector index running up 2.04% after Morgan Stanley boosted its target prices for chip equipment-makers Applied Materials and Lam Research.
Analyst Joseph Moore raised his target for the former from $47 to $52 and on the latter from $135 to $168.
Dow Jones - Risers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $156.14 1.99%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $69.78 1.76%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $57.98 1.43%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.10 1.40%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $144.60 1.31%
American Express Co. (AXP) $84.61 1.04%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $31.02 0.98%
Visa Inc. (V) $94.11 0.93%
3M Co. (MMM) $209.86 0.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $107.32 0.76%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $103.09 -0.70%
General Electric Co. (GE) $26.13 -0.68%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $131.70 -0.62%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $75.07 -0.53%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $225.60 -0.48%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $62.83 -0.43%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.24 -0.35%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.37 -0.34%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.16 -0.18%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.17 -0.18%
S&P 500 - Risers
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $43.72 3.82%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $35.79 3.77%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $149.29 3.75%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $53.78 3.68%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $66.20 3.42%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.55 3.38%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $72.81 3.23%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $28.56 3.03%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $58.28 2.93%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $25.12 2.91%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $1.05 -4.09%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.48 -3.86%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.53 -3.75%
Hess Corp. (HES) $41.25 -3.69%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $7.75 -3.61%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $10.21 -3.22%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $21.30 -3.16%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $171.28 -2.97%
L Brands Inc (LB) $45.12 -2.96%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $29.29 -2.95%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $43.72 3.82%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $149.29 3.75%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.55 3.38%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $28.56 3.03%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $58.28 2.93%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $150.42 2.85%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $130.60 2.66%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $100.32 2.59%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $88.29 2.53%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $94.80 2.51%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $171.28 -2.97%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $154.41 -1.71%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $68.97 -0.73%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $51.17 -0.65%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $294.87 -0.65%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $170.64 -0.63%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.43 -0.58%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $53.01 -0.24%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $62.39 -0.22%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $67.78 -0.22%