US stocks rose on Friday, paring losses for the week, as the August jobs report came in slightly less than expected, allaying fears that a hotter labor market may give the Federal Reserve a respite to become bolder with Raising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 140 points, or 0.5%, during trading, while the Standard & Poor’s and Nasdaq added 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Investors were comfortable with the jobs report which showed the economy added 315,000 jobs for the month, which is less than expectations of 318k, which will likely rule out a 75bp rate hike from the Fed’s research table this month.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, ten percentage points higher than expectations. The August report is particularly important because it is one of the last major economic reports that the Federal Reserve will evaluate before it raises rates at its September meeting, and can help the central bank determine whether a 75 basis point hike, or more, is painless. Return to the 50 basis point level.
The Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s indexes ended the early September session on a high, halting a four-day losing streak.
European stocks
In Europe, shares on Friday compensated some of the losses incurred during a turbulent week, in which fears increased about the energy crisis, strong inflation data, and expectations of an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank, next week.
The European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7%, ending a series of losses that lasted for five sessions, but it is heading to record a weekly loss of about four percent, in the third weekly decline, in a row.
Credit Suisse rose 3.2% after a source told Archyde.com that Switzerland’s second-largest bank was considering laying off about 5,000 staff as part of an effort to cut costs. The auto and technology sectors led the gains, rising 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
And Norwegian energy group Equinor fell 1% after it said it had completed its exit from Russia.
And Ryanair, the low-cost airline, rose about two percent after reaching a record number of passengers in August for the fourth consecutive month, and consolidating its position as the largest airline in Europe in terms of the number of passengers.
(agencies)