US: Stocks rise on strong jobs data, regional bank rebound

WALL Street stocks rallied Friday (May 5), snapping a four-day losing streak after strong US jobs data and a rebound in regional banking shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.7 per cent to 33,674.38. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 1.9 per cent to 4,136.25, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.3 per cent to 12,235.41.

The gains came after the government’s April jobs report showed the US added a greater-than-expected 253,000 jobs last month, up from 165,000 in March. Unemployment ticked back down to 3.4 per cent, an extremely low level by historical standards.

Equally important, beaten-down regional banking shares bounced, with several of the most embattled names winning huge gains.

Western Alliance Bancorporation shares won 49.2 per cent, while PacWest Bancorp surged 81.7 per cent. Zions Bancorporation added 19.2 per cent.

Analysts said the jobs data revived hopes that the US economy could achieve a “soft landing” and avert a deep downturn.

“Today’s numbers, combined with the rebound in regional banks, provided some relief that the conditions that we’re seeing in the economy are not recessionary,” said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones.

“We’re not even in a downturn. We are slowly approaching the slowdown, if you will,” he said.

Apple jumped 4.7 per cent after reporting quarterly profits of US$24 billion, on revenue of US$94.8 billion.

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This came on the back of robust iPhone and services sales, despite inflation pressures.

Travel website company Expedia surged 4.9 per cent as it reported a 20 per cent increase in total gross bookings, pointing to persistently strong travel demand.

But ride-hailing firm Lyft sank 19.3 per cent as it projected second-quarter revenue below analysts’ expectations. Observers also expressed disappointment over the company’s plan to cut prices. AFP