US open: Stocks trade higher following NFP data

by | Sep 2, 2022

Wall Street stocks were in the green shortly after the opening bell on Friday as market participants digested August’s all-important nonfarm payrolls data.
As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26% at 31,738.80, while the S&P 500 was 0.31% firmer at 3,979.10 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.09% stronger at 11,795.36.

The Dow opened 82.38 points higher on Friday, extending gains recorded in the previous session after major indices reversed earlier losses.

Friday’s primary focus will be last month’s nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which revealed hiring in the US came in slightly ahead of estimates, alongside increased labour force participation, although wage growth was a tad short of forecasts. In seasonally adjusted terms, non-farm payrolls grew by 315,000 in August, while economists had pencilled-in an increase of 300,000.

Figures for the prior two months were revised lower by a combined total of 105,000, while the rate of unemployment, on the other hand, derived from a separate survey to that for payrolls, moved up by two-tenths of a percentage point in comparison to the prior month to 3.7%.

Elsewhere on the macro front, US factory orders slipped 1% month-on-month in July to $548.5bn, according to the Census Bureau, while June’s increase was upwardly revised to show a 1.8% gain to $554.2bn.

Also in focus, the US dollar index moved lower at the open to sit at around the 109.20 level after the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit 3.236% – a marked increase since trading close to 3.0% on Monday.

Oil futures rose early in the morning but remained sharply lower for the week as a whole as market participants awaited an OPEC+ meeting scheduled for Monday, at which producers will discuss cutting output.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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