Stocks climbed on Friday, driven by a jobs report that came in weaker than expected. This sparked hopes that the Federal Reserve might hold off on raising interest rates in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 244 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2%, even hitting an all-time high earlier in the day before easing back slightly.
The U. S. economy added 29,000 jobs in September, well below the 84,000 jobs economists had forecast. Unemployment ticked up to 4.2%, a bit higher than the anticipated 4.1%. This labor market data led traders to rethink what the Federal Reserve might do next. Fed funds futures now show an 86% chance that the central bank will keep rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting, up from a 76% likelihood just a day earlier.
Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic, commented that the jobs report hit the sweet spot for the market. Saira Malik, chief investment officer at Nuveen, echoed this view, suggesting the report could bolster the market as it heads into earnings season, which she expects to be strong.
Tech stocks were at the forefront of the rally, with Nvidia shares reaching an all-time high. Other tech firms like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and AMD also saw their stocks set new records. Nvidia's stock climbed more than 3% during the day.
Meanwhile, Nike shares took a hit, dropping after a mixed first-quarter report for fiscal 2027 that pointed to a longer-than-expected recovery timeline. Despite seeing growth in North America, weak trends in China weighed on the results. Nike plans to cut costs by $2.5 billion by 2031, though management forecasts revenue to dip in the high single digits in 2027.
Elsewhere, the global bull market marked its fourth anniversary in October, with stock markets touching new highs fueled by quicker-than-anticipated corporate earnings growth. Burkhard Varnholt, a senior financial market adviser at UBS Switzerland, stressed that the bull market is more about economic recovery than price hikes.
Tesla also made headlines as its third-quarter deliveries were reported, totaling 486,532 vehicles. Although deliveries were down from last year's 497,099, they were up from 480,126 in the second quarter. Tesla shares rose in morning trading on Friday.
In the cryptocurrency arena, the Grayscale Zcash ETF (ZCSH) shone as a top performer, surging over 60% in the past month and 253% year-to-date. This surge is tied to renewed interest in privacy as AI rises, contrasting with the flat performance of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.
In other sectors, shares of Seagate Technology and Western Digital fell over 10% and 8%, respectively, after Toshiba announced plans to double its hard disk drive production capacity in the Philippines. Toshiba's $380 million investment marks its first major expansion in this field in five years.
On the semiconductor front, Morgan Stanley named Nvidia as its top pick, citing the company's diverse customer base and the essential role of GPUs in AI development. Joseph Moore of Morgan Stanley noted that while investor attention often focuses on large hyperscalers, a significant portion of Nvidia's business comes from a broader spectrum of AI model companies and corporate clients.
