US: Strong jobs data lifts stocks to weekly gain

WALL Street stocks jumped on Friday, concluding the week higher following strong jobs data and the resolution of a US ports strike.

The world’s biggest economy added 254,000 jobs last month, far above analyst expectations, as the unemployment rate dipped from 4.2 per cent to 4.1 per cent, according to US Department of Labor data.

Dockworkers at ports on the East and Gulf coasts were also heading back on the job after union leaders and shippers reached a tentative agreement, ending a three-day stoppage that threatened the US economy.

The S&P 500 finished at 5,751.07, up 0.9 per cent for the day and enough to coax out a weekly 0.2 per cent gain despite losses earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.8 per cent to 42,352.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.2 per cent at 18,137.85.

“Across every dimension, the September employment report showed a job market that was stronger than expected,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

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“All of these signs point toward a successful ‘soft landing,’ but also stoke worries that inflation may not move in a straight line to the Fed’s two percent target. This report could certainly slow the expected pace of rate cuts.”

Gains were broad-based, with all but two of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors advancing.

Among individual companies, Spirit Airlines sank nearly 25 per cent following a Wall Street Journal report that the carrier is exploring a bankruptcy filing. AFP