US open: Stocks higher following stronger-than-expected September jobs report

dl wall street wall st new york city new york stock exchange nyse dow jones nasdaq street sign nyc united states usa america pb — Sharecast / Alessandro D Andrea via Pixabay

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Friday as market participants digested a stronger-than-expected September jobs report.

As of 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% at 42,273.55, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.74% to 5,742.05 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.12% firmer at 18,119.11.

The Dow opened 261.96 points higher on Friday, more than reversing losses recorded in the previous session amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon and Iran's resulting airstrike.

Friday's primary focus was last month's nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate reports, which revealed the US economy added far more jobs than expected in September while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, dashing any expectations of a potential 50 basis points rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month.

Figures released by the Labor Department showed that total non-farm payrolls rose by 254,000 from August, versus expectations for a 140,000 increase. The figure for August, meanwhile, was revised up to a 159,000 gain from 142,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in September from 4.2% the month before. Economists were expecting it to be unchanged.

Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said: "Looking at the labour market strength evident in September's Employment Report, the real debate at the Fed should be about whether to loosen monetary policy at all. Any hopes of a 50bp cut are long gone. We continue to expect the Fed to take a more measured approach - cutting rates by 25bp at each meeting until the policy rate is down to between 3.00% and 3.25%."

In the corporate space, Spirit Airlines shares plunged early on Friday following a Wall Street Journal report claimed the low-cost carrier was mulling over filing for bankruptcy, while electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian traded lower after cutting its FY production guidance by 8,000 to 10,000 units.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $8.93 2.94%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.81 2.47%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $55.40 1.65%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $493.68 1.56%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $208.42 1.55%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $83.15 1.28%
Boeing Co. (BA) $152.10 1.05%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $283.74 1.01%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $94.45 0.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $394.27 0.81%