FX.co ★ U.S. Stocks Largely Offsetting Yesterday's Steep Losses

Stocks made a strong upward move early in Friday's session, with the major averages going a long way towards offsetting the previous session's sharp falls. Despite falling back from their session highs, the Dow was Firmly in positive territory, closing up 352.80 points or 0.9% at 38,949.78.

The Nasdaq also stayed strong, closing up 204.44 points or 1.4% at 16,253.52, and the S&P 500 was up 57.13 points or 1.1% at 5,204.34.

Investors were keen to buy stocks at relatively lower prices, following Thursday's steep declines which saw the Dow plummet to its lowest closing level in a month. Bulls were also bolstered by a Labor Department report displaying stronger than expected job growth for March.

March saw a surge in non-farm payroll employment with the addition of 303,000 jobs, following an upwardly revised figure of 270,000 jobs in February. Analysts had predicted a boost of 200,000 jobs, compared to the 275,000 job increment initially reported for February.

The unemployment rate slightly decreased to 3.8% in March from the previous month's 3.9%, a figure that defied experts' expectations of no change.

However, the robust job growth could fuel concerns about interest rates, even as the report also reported a continued deceleration in the annual rate of wage inflation. The annual rate dip was to 4.1% in March from February's 4.3%, which was in line with the earnings growth forecast.

Regarding the wage growth, Bill Adams, Chief Economist for Comerica Bank, said, "While wages are growing solidly, their growth rate has eased to the lowest since the middle of 2021. The economy-wide slowdown in inflationary pressures is extending to labor costs."

Also, he assured that the Federal Reserve is likely to view the wage growth normalization favorably, adding, "This jobs report will increase the Fed's confidence that inflation is moderating; they say higher confidence on this point is a prerequisite for making rate cuts this year."

In the sector-specific news, Gold stocks experienced a striking recovery following Thursday's decline, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.5% to its best intraday level in over ten months.

The raise in gold stocks occurred in the wake of a substantial price climb of the precious metal, with June's delivery gold increasing $36.90 to $2,345.40 an ounce.

Retail stocks also displayed marked strength, as shown by the 1.6% gain made by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index. The same resilience was seen in software, semiconductor, and housing stocks, which moved upwards along with most of the other major sectors.

In other markets, most Asia-Pacific stock markets experienced a downward shift in Friday's trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped by 2.0%, and South Korea's Kospi declined by 1.0%.

Major European markets also fell. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.8%, while both the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries remained firmly negative after an early sell-off. Hence, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves inversely to its price, rose by 6.1 basis points to reach 4.370%.