US open: Stocks trade higher following better-than-expected NFP report

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Wall Street futures were in the green early on Friday as market participants digested a non-farm payrolls report that came in stronger-than-expected.

As of 1515 BST, the ow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.27% at 38,702.41, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.54% to 5,174.89 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.77% firmer at 16,173.46.

The Dow opened 105.43 points higher on Friday, reclaiming some of yesterday's heavy losses.

The blue-chip Dow delivered its worst session in more than a year on Thursday after Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari wondered aloud whether or not interest rates should be lowered amid persistent inflation numbers.

However, things changed on Friday, with the session's primary focus being March's jobs data, which revealed that in seasonally adjusted terms non-farm payrolls increased by 303,000 in March, according to the Labor Department. Economists had pencilled in an increase of 200,000.

On the back of Friday's non-farm payrolls report, Fed funds futures moved to fully price in an initial 25 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September. Furthermore, revisions to the prior two months' worth of payrolls data were positive to the tune of 22,000.

Average hourly earnings were up by 0.3% month-on-month, as expected, as average weekly hours rose from 34.3 to 34.4, while other details of the report were also strong, with the rate of unemployment ticking lower by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.8%. Employment and the labour force participation rate both rose strongly.

"The blockbuster 303,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in March supports the Fed’s position that the resilience of the economy means it can take its time with rate cuts, which might now not begin until the second half of this year," said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics. "The rest of the report was equally as strong as the headline payrolls number, with a near-500,000 gain in the household survey measure of employment driving a drop back in the unemployment rate to 3.8%, from 3.9%."

Elsewhere on the macro front, February consumer credit change figures will be out at 2000 BST, while Federal Reserve bankers Lorie Logan and Michelle Bowman will deliver speeches at 1600 BST and 1715 BST, respectively.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

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