Wall St. Rises as Jobs Data Supports Optimistic Economic Outlook

NEW YORK (Reuters) – US stocks rallied on Friday as stronger-than-expected job growth in April, coupled with small wage increases, made investors optimistic about the US economy. outlook of the economy and interest rates.

The Nasdaq recorded a closing record, while the S & P 500 finished just under a record.

According to the Labor Department, employers created 263,000 jobs in April, which exceeded expectations. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, its lowest level since December 1969. Average hourly earnings were close to expectations, indicating moderate inflationary pressure.

The data confirms the Federal Reserve's patient attitude to raising interest rates, which is positive for equities.

"We continue to have stronger job growth, and it seems that inflation is decreasing less and less, which is really strange. In general, this is not seen and what this tells the market is that the Fed is waiting, "said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia. "This could foreshadow better revenue in the future for businesses."

Sales of the S & P 500 and Nasdaq, Amazon.com Inc., rose 3.2%, after CNBC announced that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc had purchased for the first time detail on the Internet.

The consumer discretionary sector advanced 1.5%, leading to a recovery in the top 11 sectors of S & P.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.16 points, or 0.75%, to 26,504.95, the S & P 500 gained 28.12 points, or 0.96%, to 2,945.64, and the Nasdaq Composite added 127.22 points, or 1.58%, to 8,164.00.

For the week, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.2%, while the Dow lost 0.2%.

According to Refinitiv data, nearly 400 companies in the S & P 500 reporting quarterly earnings so far exceed earnings guidance.

According to optimistic reports, the S & P 500's profit estimate for the first quarter rose nearly 1% from the 2% decline expected early April.

Shares of Newell Brand Inc. jumped 13.5% after the maker of Rubbermaid and other consumer goods surpassed Wall Street's expectations for adjusted earnings quarterly, thanks to cost reduction and rising prices.

Network hardware maker Arista Networks Inc. fell 10.4% after forecasting a weak business figure, while Activision Blizzard Inc. fell 4.8% after the video game maker announced a lower than expected profit for the current quarter, investing more in its franchises to face the competition.

Increasing issues outnumbered declining issues at the NYSE by 3.77 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a ratio of 3.85 to 1 favored advances.

The S & P 500 recorded 36 new highs over 52 weeks and two new lows. the Nasdaq Composite recorded 91 new highs and 30 new lows.

The volume of US trade amounted to 6.47 billion shares, against 6.62 billion shares on average for the full trading session of the last 20 trading days.