Stocks rebound as jobs report overshadows surging bond yields

US equity markets rose on Friday as February’s better-than-expected jobs report pushed bond yields higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 306 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.96% and 0.84% ​​respectively.

The US economy created 379,000 jobs in February as the unemployment rate fell to 6.2%, according to the Department of Labor. Economists polled by Refinitiv predicted the addition of 182,000 jobs while the unemployment rate would remain at 6.3%.

The strong report pushed the 10-year yield up to 1.63%, its highest level in a year, before slowing down. At this level, the 10-year yield is higher than the dividend yield of the S&P 500.

Friday’s rally comes a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would remain patient if inflation were to return. This drove bond yields higher, leading to sell stocks, particularly growth stocks, pushing the Nasdaq Composite to the brink of a correction, or down at least 10% from its recent Mountain peak.

In equities, tech names sensitive to a continued rise in bond yields remain under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Chevron Corp. has agreed to buy the remaining shares of Noble Midstream Partners LP that it does not already own in a deal that values ​​the pipeline operator at $ 1.32 billion. Noble Midstream shareholders will receive 0.1393 Chevron shares for each Noble Midstream unit they own.

In profits, Costco. Co. reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue as online sales soared 76% year-over-year as the trend of home shopping continued amid the COVID-19 pandemic . The gains, meanwhile, were lower than estimated as costs rose due to wage increases for frontline workers.

Gap Inc. expects sales to normalize to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of the year as people return to the office. The retailer sees its sales increase by an average to high percentage of teenagers compared to 2020.

Elsewhere, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. chairman Chamath Palihapitiya has sold his entire personal stake in the company for $ 213 million. Palihapitiya and its partner Ian Osborne still hold a 6.5% stake through investment firm Social Capital Hedosophia.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. announced plans for an offering of 47.58 million shares. The cruise line operator plans to use the proceeds to pay off debt.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed $ 1.86 to $ 65.69 a barrel while gold added $ 3.90 to $ 1,704.60.

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The overseas markets were mixed.

In Europe, the German DAX 30 fell 0.02% while the French CAC 40 rose 0.01% and the UK FTSE 100 outperformed, advancing 0.74%.

Asian markets all lost ground with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 0.47%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.23% and China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.04%.