Stocks moved sharply higher at the start of trading on Friday, as traders reacted positively to a report showing stronger than expected U.S. job growth. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside after ending the previous session mixed.
The initial strength on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing that the U.S. economy added far more jobs than anticipated in the month of January. The job growth also contributed to an unexpected drop by the unemployment rate.
The data has added to recent signs that the U.S. economy continues to recover, although lingering concerns about the financial situation in Europe and its impact on the global economy have helped to limit the upside for the markets.
Housing stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances in early trading, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 2.4 percent. With the gain, the index is on pace to end the session at its best closing level in well over a year.
Significant strength is also visible among banking stocks, which are benefiting from optimism about the outlook for the economy. Most of the other major sectors have also moved to the upside, with networking, biotechnology, and airline stocks posting notable gains.
On the other hand, gold stocks are bucking the uptrend by the broader markets amid a pullback by the price of the precious metal.
The major averages have not seen much follow-through on their initial upward move but remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 111.68 points or 0.9 percent at 12,817.09, the Nasdaq is up 28.01 points or 1 percent at 2,887.69 and the S&P 500 is up 12.34 points or 0.9 percent at 1,337.88.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com