Wall Street today: US stocks surge after strong labor report

US stocks surged on Friday after a strong labor report eased concerns about a slowdown in the jobs market.

The US government data showed employers added 254,000 more jobs to their payrolls in September as compared to 159,000 in August.

As of 12:55 pm Eastern time, the S&P 500 was up 0.5 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9 per cent higher.

As of 10:15 am Eastern time, the S&P 500 was 0.3 per cent higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 per cent.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 236.7 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 42,248.26. The S&P 500 rose 37.5 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 5,737.48, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 211.9 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 18,130.421.

Among the gainers, Tesla climbed 3.6 per cent, Amazon.com added 2.8 per cent, AI-chip giant Nvidia rose 0.8 per cent, JPMorgan Chase gained 1.9 per cent, Morgan Stanley gaining 2.6 per cent, and Norwegian Cruise Line climbed 5.6 per cent.

Apple stock fell 0.4 per cent.

Energy stocks gained on rally in oil prices on worries of supply disruptions due to the widening conflict in the Middle East region.

Exxon Mobil and SLB climbed 0.6 per cent each and Chevron added 0.3 per cent.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.95 per cent from 3.85 per cent. The yield on 2-year Treasury rose to 3.857 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices were on track for weekly gains of 9 per cent on worries of a wider Middle East conflict.

Brent crude futures were up 66 cents, or 0.85 per cent at $78.28 a barrel, as of 1323 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 63 cents, or 0.85 per cent, at $74.34 a barrel.

Bullion

Gold prices fell on Friday after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report boosted the US dollar.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $2,650.38 per ounce by 10:37 am EDT (1437 GMT). US gold futures lost 0.3 per cent to $2,670.3.

Spot silver dropped 0.8 per cent to $31.8.