Major Wall Street stock market indices gained on Friday as investors looked over a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
A Labor Department update revealed that the US economy added only 50,000 new jobs in December. Meanwhile, the official unemployment rate was 4.4%, which was a bit lower than what many financial experts had predicted for the month.
Market participants were also closely watching for a major decision from the Supreme Court on the broad taxes on imported goods, known as tariffs, which were imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The court’s decision is expected to have a significant impact on trade and the overall economy as the new year begins.
At 09:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.49 points, or 0.31%, to 49,419.60, the S&P 500 gained 25.42 points, or 0.37%, to 6,946.88 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 88.49 points, or 0.38%, to 23,568.50.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.3 points, or 0.06%, to 49,234.81. The S&P 500 rose 6.4 points, or 0.09%, to 6,927.83, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 16.2 points, or 0.07%, to 23,496.211.
Among the S&P sectoral indices, all major sectors rose, with the utilities index leading gains with a 1.5% jump.
Key Stock Movers
Intel shares surged 2.6% after Trump said he had a “great meeting” with the chipmaker’s chief executive officer, Lip-Bu Tan.
General Motors stock slipped 2.2% after the automaker said it would take a $6 billion charge to unwind some electric-vehicle investments.
Mortgage lenders rose after Trump said he is ordering his representatives to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to cut housing costs.
Shares of LoanDepot rallied 19%, Rocket Companies gained soared 6.1% and Opendoor Technologies surged 12.7%.
Vistra stock jumped 13% after Meta Platforms struck a deal to buy power from the company’s nuclear plants.
Shares of Constellation Energy and Entergy rose 4% and 2%, respectively.
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