By US stocks jumped on Friday after the October jobs report missed economist estimates, opening the door for more rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
Major indexes rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising nearly 300 points. The Nasdaq Composite ended almost 1% higher.
The US economy added 12,000 jobs in October, well short of economist estimates of 106,000, representing the lowest job gains since December 2020.
The jobs report’s weakness was driven by disruptions from hurricanes Helene and Milton, which battered Florida and North Carolina last month, as well as an ongoing strike of about 30,000 Boeing workers.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%.
The weak jobs report reinforced the case for more interest rate cuts from the Fed, though it puts the Fed in a tight spot given the noise surrounding the report.
“Given the storm-related distortion, the Fed is in a tight spot as they adhere to data-dependency,” LPL chief economist Jeffrey Roach said. “The Fed will likely cut rates in the remaining two meetings as economic conditions weakened.”
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 5,728.88, up 0.41%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,051.80, up 0.69% (+288.34 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 18,239.92, up 0.80%
Investors were also digesting earnings results from mega-cap tech giants Amazon and Apple. Both companies beat analyst estimates, with Amazon stock surging about 6%.
Apple stock fell after earnings, however, as weakness in its China business weighed on sentiment, dropping more than 1% in Friday’s session.
Here’s what else happened today:
- The Trump trade has wavered as Kamala Harris’ odds of winning the election rose in betting markets.
- Why investors should rotate into smaller stocks, according to Citi.
- Carvana stock has soared more than 7,000% since it narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2022.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.33% to $69.49 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was higher by 0.37% to $73.08 a barrel.
- Gold dropped 0.20% to $2,743.80 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield surged nine basis points to 4.382%.
- Bitcoin declined 1.53% to $69,132.
