NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rallied more than 1% in afternoon trading Friday, with technology shares leading the way up, as investors assessed Friday’s jobs report that showed U.S. hiring rose broadly in September but also that wage growth was slowing.
The information technology sector was up more than 2% and led gains on the S&P 500, followed by communication services.
U.S. employment increased by the most in eight months in September, data showed, as hiring rose broadly, pointing to persistent labor market strength, though wage growth was slowing.
“You have an economy that’s moving forward, the Federal Reserve is probably sitting on the sidelines and oil prices are not working against you today. You have a stock market that’s extremely oversold,” said Rober Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Market watchers have been weighing whether the Federal Reserve may be done hiking interest rates because of a recent surge in long-term U.S. Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 408.53 points, or 1.23%, to 33,528.1, the S&P 500 gained 61.51 points, or 1.44%, to 4,319.7 and the Nasdaq Composite added 226.92 points, or 1.72%, to 13,446.75.
Stocks registered sharp losses for the month of September.
Oil prices were slightly higher in afternoon trading Friday, and energy shares were also mostly higher.
Investors will also closely look at data on September consumer price inflation and producer price index readings, due next week.
Investors also await the upcoming quarterly earnings season, with major banks including JPMorgan Chase due to report next week.
Shares of Exxon Mobil were down after sources told Reuters that the U.S. oil producer was in advanced talks to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources. Pioneer’s stock jumped.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.33-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.98-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 6 new 52-week highs and 51 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 236 new lows.
(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York and Ankika Biswas and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)
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