U.S. stocks jumped to record levels on Friday even after a disappointing April jobs report as the weak number made investors believe easy monetary policies that powered the market’s historic rebound will stay in place for longer. Some investors also dismissed the report as a one-time blip that doesn’t signal any slowdown in the economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 229.23 points to register another all-time record of 34,777.76.
The S&P 500 rocketed 30.98 points to 4,232.60, also, an all-time high.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 119.4 points to 13,752.24.
For the week, the Dow rallied 2.7% to break a two-week losing streak. The S&P 500 gained 1.2%, while the NASDAQ shed 1.5% this week.
The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payrolls increased by just 266,000 in April, far less than the one million total economists were expecting, according to Dow Jones.
The unemployment rate rose to 6.1% last month amid an escalating shortage of available workers, higher than an expectation of 5.8%. Meanwhile, March’s originally estimated total of 916,000 was revised down to 770,000.
Investors bet that the big jobs miss could keep the easy policies of the Federal Reserve in place, including record low interest rates and a massive bond-buying program.
Tech stocks, which have been winning under the low-rates regime during the pandemic, outperformed after the data release. Microsoft and
Tesla both rose more than 1%, while Netflix, Alphabet and Apple all registered gains. Higher rates tend to hit growth stocks the most since they reduce the value of their future earnings.
Shares of Roku rallied more than 11% after the streaming company blew past expectations with its first-quarter results. Roku posted adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share, compared to an estimated loss of 13 cents per share. Revenue rose 79% from a year ago and exceeded expectations.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys lost earlier gains, raising yields to 1.58% from Thursday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 18 cents to $64.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $16.90 to $1,882.60 U.S. an ounce.