Investors on Friday are reading bad news about the labor market as good news for stocks.
The major U.S. indexes rose after the latest jobs report showed hiring slowed. The U.S. added 150,000 jobs in October, below economists’ projections. The unemployment rate was 3.9%, slightly higher than expected.
The decline in nonfarm payrolls is a sign that the economy is cooling. For investors, that suggests the Fed might stop raising interest rates. Bond yields tumbled after the report.
The stock market’s most valuable company, Apple, disappointed investors with an anemic growth outlook after the bell yesterday. Its shares fell.
The broad index is up more than 5% this week. Government bonds have rallied.
Stocks rose. The S&P 500, Dow industrials and Nasdaq Composite all moved higher. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were up more than 1%.
Treasury yields fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note extended recent declines. It was recently a bit above 4.5%.
Shares of Block, the fintech company, were among the day’s big gainers. The company lifted its outlook and posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss.
Bitcoin fell. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud Thursday and crypto exchange Coinbase Global reported a seventh quarter of losses.
Oil prices declined. Front-month Brent crude traded around $86 a barrel.
