Stocks closed higher Friday; cash markets shut Sunday
U.S. equities finished Friday higher after September payrolls rose only 29,000, cooling late-October Fed hike odds. The S&P 500 gained about 0.7% and the Nasdaq about 1.2%. Cash equity markets are closed for the weekend, so Monday's open will price any oil or war headlines first.
U.S. stocks advanced Friday to close the trading week after the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 29,000 in September — far short of the 90,000 gain economists expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 250.40 points, or 0.49%, to 51,176.96. The S&P 500 gained 56.27 points, or 0.73%, to 7,722.72. The Nasdaq Composite added 319.27 points, or 1.19%, to 27,190.86, according to the Reuters wrap on StreetInsider. Cash markets are closed Sunday; only futures and weekend news tapes move until Monday.
Softer hiring pulled down near-term rate-hike odds. CME FedWatch put the chance of at least a 25-basis-point hike at the Fed's late-October meeting near 23%, down from about 64% a week earlier. Rate-sensitive groups participated: the Russell 2000 rose about 0.9%, and mega-caps such as Nvidia and Tesla helped lead the S&P.
The day bounce did not erase a weak week for the blue chips. For the full week the S&P 500 still shed 0.27% and the Dow fell 1.26%, while the Nasdaq eked out a 0.45% weekly gain — its fifth rise in six weeks. Nike slid after a weak China-heavy outlook, and storage names Western Digital and Seagate fell about 10% on a Toshiba capacity report.
Backstory: investors spent September and early October juggling sticky energy prices from the Iran war with a labor market that no longer looks overheated. Two Fed officials earlier in the week had already urged more data before another hike, so Friday's print reinforced a wait-and-see path into the next meeting.
Where to watch: Monday's futures open and any weekend Hormuz or oil headlines that could reopen inflation fears.
What we know:
Friday's cash closes and the +29,000 payroll print are on the BLS and exchange record. Soft jobs cooled October hike odds in FedWatch. Equity cash markets are closed until Monday.
What we don't:
Whether the equity bounce sticks when Monday trading resumes, or whether sticky prices and war risk force a December hike back into focus.
Where outlets agree StreetInsider/Reuters and MarketScreener agree major US indexes closed higher Friday after the soft payrolls print.
Where they differ Bulls treat soft jobs as cover for stocks while cautious desks warn the weekly Dow and S&P losses show the rally remains fragile.