Stocks traded mixed Friday as investors digested a disappointing April jobs report, which showed the U.S. economyadded back far fewer jobs than expected last month despite easing stay-in-place restrictions.
The Dow sank, giving back some gains after the index hit yet another all-time high during the regular session Thursday. The Nasdaq advanced, after the disappointing economic data appeared to make a case for monetary policy to stay on hold and interest rates to stay low, supporting tech and growth stocks. The S&P 500 ticked higher. Treasury yields sank, with the 10-year yield tumbling to below 1.55%.
The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by just 266,000 in April, far less than the 1 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.
The 10-year Treasury yield dropped 5 basis points (1 basis point is 0.01%) following the report, trigging the volatile market reaction and the rotation by investors.
On one hand, the report lowered expectations for the pandemic economic recovery and caused investors to dump shares most leveraged to the comeback. Goldman and Bank of America shares fell in the premarket, weighing on sentiment for the Dow.
On the other hand, the lower rates caused tech shares to jump in response, boosting sentiment for S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet, and Apple all jumped more than 1% in early trading.
This re-establishes a pattern seen earlier in the year where growth stocks moved inversely to interest rates. There are a few factors at play. When rates rise, investors have been dumping tech stock pandemic winners in favor of stocks more leveraged to the growing economy like banks. What's more, investors believe higher rates will hit growth stocks the most since they reduce the value of their future earnings. So now with rates dropping again on Friday, investors saw it safe to go back into tech stocks.
Bank of America research warned as recently as Fridaythat strong economic data could hit stocks, especially tech shares, if it caused the Federal Reserve to dial back on its easy monetary policies. But after that weak jobs report, that doesn't seem to be a concern and the Fed can keep the low rates and bond buying in place.
"The Fed will feel some vindication in their hesitancy to embrace tapering," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note following the jobs report Friday.
Still, the disappointing jobs number poured cold water on many economists who estimated a sharp rebound in job growth. Goldman Sachs economists expected a total of 1.3 million jobs to have been added in April.
It also cast doubt on whether the economy could pull off a full recovery from the pandemic as quickly as many expect. Some economists are forecasting double-digit growth in the current quarter after gross domestic product rose at a 6.4% annualized pace in the first quarter. The Dow hit another record on Thursday on expectations for a booming economy.
"It was a disappointing read on job creation and brings into question the assumption that Q2 is going to carry-forward the positive momentum established at the beginning of the year," Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates at BMO, said in a note.
Shares of Roku rallied more than 8% in premarket trading 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, according to Refinitiv. Revenue rose 79% from a year ago and exceeded expectations.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 318 points, or 0.9%, to close near its session high and clinch a record close of 34,548.53. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 4,201.62. The Nasdaq Composite erased earlier losses and gained 0.4% to 13,632.84.
Thursday's gains came after a better-than-expected reading onjobless claims. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 498,000 for the week ended May 1, hitting a fresh pandemic-era low and better than a Dow Jones estimate of 527,000.
For the week, the major stock indexes were mixed as of Thursday's close. The Dow is up about 2%, the S&P 500 had gained 0.49% and the Nasdaq Composite had shed more than 2.3%.