US: Equities close higher as softer jobs data quiets rate-hike expectations

The stock market saw a rise on Friday, Oct 2, as softer-than-expected jobs data lessened expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve. The Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls rose by 29,000 jobs last month, lower than the 90,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Reuters. This softened the odds of a 25 basis points rate increase at the Federal Reserve's meeting at the end of October, from 24.4 percent to 22.7 percent, according to CME FedWatch.

Robert Bernstone, head of trading at SummitTX Capital in New York, noted that the news was satisfactory as it signaled an economy not growing rapidly. However, concerns remained regarding the economy and inflation, leading to cautious optimism. The S&P 500 industrial average climbed 250.40 points, or 0.5 percent, to 51,176.96, the S&P 500 grew 56.27 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,722.72, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 319.27 points, or 1.2 percent, to 27,190.86.

Tempered expectations for a rate hike boosted rate-sensitive stocks such as the S&P 500 real estate index, which increased 0.4 percent, and the small-cap Russell 2000 index, which rose 0.9 percent, marking its biggest daily gain in a month. Nvidia and Tesla were among the top performers, contributing to the S&P 500's consumer discretionary index's 1.4 percent increase.

Despite Friday's gains, both the Dow and S&P 500 had a fourth weekly decline in the past five sessions, but the Nasdaq secured a weekly gain for the fifth time in six. For the week, the S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.5 percent, and the Dow fell 1.3 percent.