Wall Street’s main indexes gained on Friday as Apple’s upbeat results underscored resilience in corporate earnings, while a stronger-than-expected jobs report eased fears of an imminent economic downturn.Apple Inc gained 4.4% on better-than-expected results, helped by strong iPhone sales and notable inroads in India and other newer markets, fuelling a near 2% advance in technology stocks.Investors appeared to take in stride data showing U.S. employers boosted hiring in April while raising wages, pointing to sustained labor market strength that could prompt the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for some time.
The Labor Department’s report showed non-farm payrolls increased by 253,000 last month, higher than economists’ expectations of 180,000.Wages increased 4.4% year-on-year in April after climbing 4.3% in March, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%.”This is a strong report and shows that the labor market is resilient. It bails out the Fed for raising another quarter point,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.”It’s been a tough week for the stock market, the regional banking problems have raised the fear factor, but Apple earnings came in strong. Stocks are coming up from near-term oversold condition.”Traders are betting the Fed will start easing the policy rate by September, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, compared with July before the release of the jobs data.The Fed raised its interest rate by 25 basis points as expected on Wednesday, but Chair Jerome Powell noted it was too early to say with certainty that the rate-hike cycle was over as inflation remains the chief concern.
Lyft Inc slumped 19% as the ride-hailing company’s strategy to claw back market share from rival Uber Technologies Inc with lower fares stoked concerns about a hit to its profit margins.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 6.06-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 3.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 43 new lows.