During Friday's trading session, most stocks continued the substantial recovery seen over the previous day. The Nasdaq, heavily weighted in tech stocks, showed significant gains, while the S&P 500 achieved a new record intraday high. At their peaks, the Nasdaq was up by 169.02 points or 1.1 percent to 15,530.66, and the S&P 500 by 29.89 points or 0.6 percent to 4,936.08.
The Dow, however, didn't follow the upward trend. Although it rebounded from its worst levels, the blue-chip index was still down 44.19 points, or 0.1 percent, at 38,475.65.
The Nasdaq's rally is largely attributable to positive reactions to earnings news from Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (META) and online retail titan Amazon (AMZN). Meta's shares surged by 20.8 percent after the company reported better-than-expected quarter-four results, announced its inaugural quarterly dividend, and authorized a $50 billion share buyback. Amazon also saw a 7.3 percent surge after its quarter-four results exceeded analyst estimates on both revenue and net income.
In contrast, the Dow's modest drop was influenced by significant declines from Walgreens (WBA), Intel (INTC), and Home Depot (HD).
The Labor Department's closely watched report showing stronger-than-expected job growth in January also factored into traders' reactions. The Department reported that non-farm payroll employment had increased by 353,000 jobs, compared to economists' predictions of around 180,000 jobs. Job growth in December was also stronger than initially reported, with an increase of 333,000 jobs as opposed to the previously reported 216,000. The January unemployment rate remains stable at 3.7 percent, contrary to economist expectations of a slight increase to 3.8 percent.
The strong jobs data eased the likelihood of an interest cut in March. Larry Tentarelli, Chief Technical Strategist at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, regarded a robust jobs market as largely beneficial for both the economy and stock market.
In sector news, retail stocks bolstered by optimistic growth prospects for consumer spending have soared. The Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index swelled by 2.3 percent, reaching its highest intraday level in two years. Brokerage stocks also saw notable increases, as evidenced by a 1.4 percent rise in the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.
However, gold stocks sharply declined after a rally on Thursday, indicated by a 3.7 percent plunge in the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. This sell-off occurred alongside a significant drop in gold prices, with gold for April delivery plummeting $20.40 to $2,050.70 an ounce. Interest-rate sensitive commercial real estate, utilities, and telecom stocks also showed major downward shifts.
In other markets, Asia-Pacific stocks demonstrated mixed performances on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent and South Korea's Kospi spiked by 2.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 1.5 percent. European markets experienced growth, with Germany's DAX Index up 0.5 percent, France's CAC 40 Index 0.3 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index just above the unchanged line.
In the bond market, treasuries noticeably dropped after several sessions of considerable growth. Consequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves inverse to its price, increased by 17.4 basis points to 4.037 percent.
