US close: Stocks jump as wage growth misses, alongside bumper non-farm payrolls

Wall Street finished firmly in the green on Friday, after the latest non-farm payrolls report showed that the US added more jobs in February than it had in the last 18 months, even as wage growth ebbed, calming worries that rate-setters on the Potomac need to speed-up their pace of tightening.

By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 1.77% or 440.53 points to 25,335.74, with the S&P 500 adding 1.74% or 47.60 points to 2,788.57 and the Nasdaq Composite pushing ahead 1.79% or 132.86 points to 7,560.51.

For the week, the S&P 500 added 95.32 points.

Strikingly, at one point early in the session the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's Semiconductor Index was jumping by over four percentage points, although it ended up by a more 'modest' 2.08% to 1,431.16.

According to the Journal, Intel Corp. has pondered the possibility of a bid for Broadcom if it succeeds in its hostile takeover of rival Qualcomm.

Shares of bank also performed well, with the KBW sector gauge tacking on 2.20% to finish at 116.10.

In another boost to sentiment, overnight it emerged that Donald Trump has agreed to meet with Kim Jong Un by May for talks about its nuclear weapons, something North Korea has been seeking with an American president for more than 20 years.

That appeared to help offset concerns on the international trade front.

James Hughes, chief market analyst at AxiTrader, said, "This was announced just after the President announced the tariffs he is imposing, which do give exemption to Canada and Mexico, which was rumoured. There are still negotiations over the tariffs and other possible exemptions, so as normal everything is still pretty unclear."

On the economic data front, the US economy added 313,000 new jobs during February, the biggest gain in a year and a half.

Following on from big job gains in January and December, February's hiring increase blew past analysts' expectations for an increase of 222,000, but despite the massive uptick in hiring, wage growth was unable to keep up as average hourly pay rose by just 0.1% month-on-month and the 12-month increase in pay slipped to 2.6% from January's downwardly revised figure of 2.8%.

However, the strong report meant that the Federal Reserve would almost certainly raise interest rates when senior officials meet later in March.

"With the US economy at virtually full employment, the fear is higher wages will continue to drive inflation, forcing the US Fed to hike interest rates faster and higher than Wall Street would like," said James Ingram, an investment manager at MB Capital.

"An interest rate hike in March from the US Fed must now be all but nailed on," he added.

Perhaps, but with implications in the opposite direction, on Friday evening Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans told Bloomberg TV that inflation at 2.5% could be compatible with a 'symmetric' target for price stability.

The US unemployment rate was unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1%.

Reacting to all of the above, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note added four basis points to 2.89%, capping its first one-week advance in three. At the two-year tenor, the yield on benchmark Treasuries was one basis point higher to 2.26%.

In corporate news, Big Lots was 10.09% lower after the retailer posted its fourth-quarter earnings.

From a sector standpoint, the best performance was seen in the following industry groups: Reinsurers (3.59%), Railroads (3.50%) and Asset Managers (3.16%).

Meanwhile, in other asset classes, the US spot dollar index edged lower by 0.10% to 90.09, while front month West Texas Intermediate rose 3.33% to $62.12 a barrel on the NYMEX.

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.22 3.41%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $158.25 3.03%
General Electric Co. (GE) $14.94 2.89%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $118.04 2.88%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.19 2.86%
American Express Co. (AXP) $99.03 2.55%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $182.16 2.37%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $72.23 2.34%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.37 2.32%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $96.54 2.23%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.00 0.00%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $225.43 0.31%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $80.29 0.40%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $74.56 0.59%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $104.71 0.67%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.14 0.69%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.77 0.74%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.82 0.83%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $88.72 0.91%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $133.80 1.32%

S&P 500 - Risers

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $224.95 5.74%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $188.89 5.46%
Kroger Co. (KR) $24.08 4.79%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $125.68 4.72%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $331.44 4.56%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $15.74 4.52%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.09 4.38%
Blackrock Inc. (BLK) $577.18 4.30%
Deere & Co. (DE) $167.93 4.27%
Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $421.16 4.16%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Mattel Inc. (MAT) $14.84 -7.11%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $39.12 -5.02%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $14.48 -4.36%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $91.46 -2.06%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $49.69 -1.64%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $43.68 -1.49%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $6.98 -1.41%
Macerich Co (MAC) $58.02 -1.29%
Newell Brands Inc (NWL) $27.32 -1.26%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $54.59 -1.14%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $224.95 5.74%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $188.89 5.46%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $125.68 4.72%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $331.44 4.56%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $413.94 4.18%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $98.97 3.81%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $61.61 3.77%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $121.15 3.55%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $178.30 3.52%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $250.51 3.37%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Hasbro Inc (HAS) $91.46 -2.06%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $40.76 -1.50%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $54.59 -1.14%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $327.17 -0.59%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $133.46 -0.49%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $205.92 -0.30%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $312.53 -0.29%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $128.49 -0.26%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $341.70 0.27%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $29.04 0.28%