Wall Street stocks buoyed by strong economic data | Australian Markets

Wall Street stocks superior on Friday, notching the second straight week of good points, helped by strong economic data and potential easing of trade tensions between the US and China.

The US economic system added 177,000 jobs in April, exceeding expectations, whereas the unemployment fee held regular at 4.2 per cent. The data helped to assuage issues of a economic slowdown following a Commerce Department report, displaying a contraction in US gross home product for the primary time in three years, weighed down by a tariff-induced flood of imports.

“The stock market is cheering this morning’s payroll report but I have to point out that job growth did slow on the month and I haven’t seen too many comments about that,” mentioned Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group.

“I was a bit surprised because I was expecting a sharper slowdown given that non-farm payroll survey happened the week after the tariffs were announced. So I think the market is taking this in a positive light.”

Beijing on Friday mentioned it was evaluating an offer from Washington to carry talks over President Donald Trump’s 145 per cent tariffs, which he had imposed on Chinese imports.

The tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies have stored buyers on edge, with each side unwilling to be seen backing down in a trade warfare that has roiled international markets.

Still, Trump’s reversal of some tariffs has helped US stock indexes recuperate from current losses. The S&P 500 has erased the hunch set off by Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2, with the index now up 0.3 per cent because the close of April 2. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was trading at ranges final seen earlier than April 2.

The S&P 500 additionally reached its ninth consecutive session of good points, matching a successful streak from 2004, whereas the Dow hit a nine-day successful streak for the primary since December 2023. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 2.9 per cent, the Dow climbed 3.0 per cent, and the Nasdaq added 3.43 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 564.47 factors, or 1.39 per cent, to 41,317.43, the S&P 500 gained 82.54 factors, or 1.47 per cent, to five,686.68 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 266.99 factors, or 1.51 per cent, to 17,977.73.

“I do think what today is saying is that the economy is a lot stronger than people thought and a lot more resilient in the face of all of these tariffs and fears about tariffs,” mentioned Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital in New York.

Apple fell practically 4.0 per cent after the iPhone maker trimmed its share buyback program by $US10 billion ($A16 billion) and CEO Tim Cook instructed analysts that tariffs might add about $US900 million ($A1.4 billion) in prices this quarter.

Other so-called Magnificent Seven stocks resembling Meta Platform rose 4.3 per cent and Nvidia gained 2.6 per cent. Amazon dipped 0.1 per cent.

Chevron rose 1.6 per cent and ExxonMobil gained 0.4 per cent after each vitality giants reported quarterly outcomes.

Block slumped 20 per cent after reducing its revenue forecast for 2025 and lacking estimates for quarterly earnings.

Video recreation maker Take-Two Interactive fell practically 7.0 per cent after it delayed the release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” to May 2026.

Advancing points outnumbered decliners by a 3.81-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There had been 144 new highs and 47 new lows on the NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and three new lows whereas the Nasdaq Composite recorded 51 new highs and 38 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 15.99 billion shares, in contrast with the 19.3 billion average for the complete session during the last 20 trading days.