Stock market today: live updates

The S&P 500 rose slightly on Friday after a contradictory jobs report left investors wondering what’s next for interest rates.

The broad index rose 0.4% during the Nasdaq Composite rose by 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points, or 0.2%, after rising more than 300 points to session highs.

Stocks initially rallied after data showed that nonfarm payrolls rose by 254,000 jobs in September, far exceeding the 150,000 increase forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, although it was expected to remain stable at 4.2%.

But stocks rose to highs as investors realized that the blockbuster report reduced the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again by half a percentage point in November – something traders had long been clamoring for. Rising bond yields also limited the upward trend 10 yearsis almost 4% at some point.

“The Fed should not be in a rush now to move interest rates closer to neutral next year,” said Jason Pride, head of investment strategy and research at Glenmede. “The bottom doesn’t seem to be falling in the job market.”

Tesla, Amazon And Netflix were among the megacap tech names that rose on Friday, which may partly explain the Nasdaq’s outperformance. At the other end of the spectrum, small-cap stocks also rallied Russell 2000 increased by more than 1%.

But Friday’s rebound was not enough to offset the losses of the last few days. Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East caused stock markets to get off to a shaky start in October, a reversal after the market was unusually strong in the first nine months of the year.

All three major indexes are on the verge of a three-week winning streak. The Dow and the Nasdaq each lost 0.4% for the week. The S&P 500 is expected to lose 0.2%.

Crude oil prices rose again on Friday, bringing the week-to-date gain to almost 9%. Oil prices rose due to the worsening conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel.

Energy stocks jumped this week on the back of the oil rally, with the S&P 500 sector gaining 6.8%. This puts the group on track to achieve its largest weekly gain in almost two years.