Stocks Climb Higher On Upbeat Jobs Data; Dow Hits New Record Closing High

U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, lifting the major averages to a firm close, as upbeat non-farm payroll data helped offset concerns about Middle East tensions and prompted investors to indulge in some brisk buying at several counters from across various sectors.

The Dow settled at a fresh record high at 42,352.75, gaining 341.16 points or 0.81 percent, the S&P 500 closed up 51.13 points or 0.9 percent at 5,751.07, and the Nasdaq climbed 219.37 points or 1.22 percent to settle at 18,137.85.

NVIDIA Corporation, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Berkshire Hathway, JP Morgan Chase, Exxon Mobil, Oracle Corporation, Bank of America, Netflix, Salesforce, IBM, GE Aerospace, American Express, Morgan Stanley, Walt Disney, Uber Technologies and Starbucks Corporation climbed 1 to 4 percent.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment jumped by 254,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in August. Economists had expected employment to rise by 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 142,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in September from 4.2 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.

The stronger than expected jobs growth eased concerns about the economic outlook, but dashed hopes of aggressive rate cuts in the coming months.

Following the jobs data, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is indicating a 91.2% the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in November and just a 8.8% chance of another half point rate cut.

The stronger than expected jobs data has raised grounds for an argument for a smaller rate cut at the next Fed decision in November, according to Bill Adams, Chied Economist for Comercia Bank (Dallas, TX).

Gina Bolvin, President of Bolvin Wealth Management Group (Boston, MA) is of the view that the strong jobs report lowers expectations for a 0.5 percent basis point cut in November. Bolvin says that with oil prices surging higher due to Middle East tensions, and average hourly earnings rising, the Fed may worry about inflation rearing its ugly head.

Jamie Cox, Managing Partner for Harris Financial Group, is also of the view that it will be hard to justify a 0.5 percent rate cut in November with employment data like this. Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial feels the solid jobs data increases the odds that the economy will continue to grow above the trend in the next quarter, and that the Fed will cut by a quarter point at the next few meetings.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday as Middle East tensions persisted and investors looked ahead to the all-important U.S. jobs report later in the day that could decide the path of U.S. interest rates.

European stocks ended higher on Friday with investors cheering upbeat U.S. jobs data. Geopolitical tensions persisted, but that did not deter investors from picking up several frontline stocks.

In addition to reacting to U.S. jobs data and following geopolitical news, investors also digested a slew of economic data from the European region.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.44 percent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.55 percent, and 0.85%, respectively. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged down slightly.