US markets settle significantly higher on Friday

07 Oct 2023 Evaluate

Rebounding from initial weakness, the US markets settled significantly higher on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining over one and half a percent. The initial weakness on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of September. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 336,000 jobs in September compared to street estimates for an increase of about 170,000 jobs. The closely watched Labor Department report also showed notable upward revisions to job growth in the two previous months. Employment in August and July jumped by 236,000 jobs and 227,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net upward revision of 119,000 jobs. 

Also, there was some cautiousness after a spike by treasury yields amid renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates, with yields once again soaring to their highest levels in over sixteen years. However, treasury yields pulled back well off their highs as the day progressed, contributing to the subsequent rebound seen on Wall Street. On the sectoral front, software stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the session, resulting in a 2.6 percent surge by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Significant strength also emerged among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The strength among natural gas stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the commodity, with natural gas for November delivery spiking $0.172 to $3.338 per million BTUs.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 288.01 points or 0.87 percent to 33,407.58, Nasdaq rose 211.51 points or 1.60 percent to 13,431.34 and S&P 500 was up by 50.31 points or 1.18 percent to 4,308.50. 

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