Stock market news today: Stocks rise as jobs growth cools more than expected
Stocks rose Friday as investors weighed a cooling in jobs growth that could reinforce hopes that the Federal Reserve is done with its rate-hiking campaign.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained about 0.7%, or more than 200 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added nearly 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained roughly 1.4%. It was the best weekly performance for all indexes in 2023.
The US economy added 150,000 jobs in October, undershooting the 180,000 reading expected, with auto industry strikes a factor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.9%.
The health of the labor market is a key input for Fed policymakers, and the signs of a slowing economy should support the case for the central bank to hold off from another rate hike this year.
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Tech stocks recouped earlier losses after disappointing results from Apple (AAPL). While Apple's earnings beat estimates in its quarterly report after the bell, the iPhone maker was cautious in its outlook for growth, saying it expects sales of iPads and wearables to "decelerate significantly."
Investors are weighing what that could mean about the resilience of consumer, and whether the series of disappointing earnings this season might feed into the Fed's assessment of how its tightening is dampening the economy.
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