US stocks rally following robust NFP data

After the release of stronger-than-expected US jobs data and a spike in Treasury yields, stocks rose on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.7%, the S&P 500 added 1.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 414 points, or 1.2%. With wages growing less than anticipated last month, the Labour Department said that the US economy added 336,000 jobs in September.

Although traders were unsure of the cause of the intraday turnaround, some speculated that it may have been the jobs report’s weaker pay number that caused investors to change their earlier bearish view. Others pointed out the yields’ decline from the day’s highs. Given that the S&P 500 was at one point this week down more than 8% from its peak earlier this year, a portion of the rally may simply be due to a market that had been extremely oversold.

Following the release of the data, yields initially increased, with the 10-year Treasury rate trading close to its highest level in 16 years. Later, the benchmark rate dipped below those levels, but it was still higher by about 6 basis points, at 4.78%. The return in yields from our previous level of 4.8%.

The S&P 500’s technology sector saw the largest rise on Friday, up 2%. Over 3% gains were seen by Palo Alto Networks, Monolithic Power Systems, Advanced Micro Devices, and Arista Networks. As the UAW announced there wouldn’t be any further strikes this week due to progress in negotiations with automakers, GM and Ford rose in the afternoon.

The S&P 500 is up 0.6% week to date, snapping a four-week losing trend for the broad market index. The Dow is still down 0.1%, while the Nasdaq is up 1.6% lower for the week.