US stocks end up on jobs data and China hopes | Australian Markets

US stocks closed larger on Friday after a better-than-expected jobs report calmed worries concerning the financial system, whereas Tesla bounced, clawing back some losses from a sharp plunge the earlier session.

The S&P 500 closed above 6,000 for the primary time since February 21, fuelled by features in technology shares.

Investors cheered news citing President Donald Trump as saying three cupboard officers will meet representatives of China in London on June 9 to debate a trade deal.

“The market will chase the trade deal carrot any time it’s available. The trick is whether any actual deal gets done,” mentioned Jamie Cox, managing accomplice at Harris Financial Group.

On Thursday, Trump and Chinese chief Xi Jinping spoke, after weeks of trade tensions and a battle over essential minerals. They left key points unresolved for future talks.

In early trading, US data confirmed nonfarm payrolls elevated by 139,000 jobs final month after rising by a downwardly revised 147,000 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 130,000 jobs.

The unemployment fee stood at 4.2 per cent, consistent with expectations.

Following the report, merchants guess that Federal Reserve policymakers have little motive to hurry on fee cuts. They are seen ready till September to cut charges, with only one more cut in view by December, based mostly on rate of interest futures. Central bank policymakers meet later this month.

“We expect the Fed to remain on hold at this month’s meeting and think a softening in the labour market data is likely required for the Fed to continue its easing cycle,” mentioned Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Weaker-than-expected non-public payrolls numbers and surveys on the providers sector this week had raised considerations that trade uncertainty may gradual the financial system.

US equities rallied in May, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq scoring their largest month-to-month share features since November 2023, because of softening of Trump’s harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings stories.

On Friday, the S&P 500 hit its highest in over three months, and remained under document highs touched in February by a little more than 2.0 per cent. The Dow index additionally rose to a three-month high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 442.88 factors, or 1.05 per cent, to 42,762.62, the S&P 500 gained 61.02 factors, or 1.03 per cent, to six,000.32 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 231.50 factors, or 1.20 per cent, to 19,529.95.

The S&P gained 1.5 per cent for the week, the Dow 1.17 per cent and Nasdaq 2.18 per cent.

Shares of Tesla rose 3.8 per cent after plunging about 15 per cent on Thursday during Trump’s public feud with Musk, together with threats to cut off authorities contracts with Musk’s firms.

Other megacap firms additionally rose. Amazon was up 2.7 per cent and Alphabet gained 3.25 per cent.

Wells Fargo rose 1.9 per cent as scores firm S&P Global upgraded its outlook on Wells Fargo to “positive” from “stable.” Earlier this week, the US bank was launched from a $US1.95 trillion ($A3 trillion) asset cap.

Broadcom shares fell 5.0 per cent after the networking and customized AI chipmaker’s quarterly income forecast didn’t impress buyers.

Lululemon shares slumped 19.8 per cent because the sportswear maker cut its annual revenue goal, citing larger prices from Trump’s tariffs.

Advancing points outnumbered decliners by a 2.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There had been 173 new highs and 34 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, advancing points outnumbered decliners by a 2.52-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows whereas the Nasdaq Composite recorded 86 new highs and 38 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was comparatively gentle, with 14.5 billion shares traded, in comparison with an average of 17.8 billion shares over the earlier 20 classes.