US open: Stocks record early gains despite nonfarm payrolls miss

Wall Street stocks opened higher on Friday despite some key jobs data falling short of expectations.

As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34% at 30,071.15, while the S&P 500 was 0.48% firmer at 3,684.15 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 0.39% stronger at 12,426.06.

The Dow opened 101.63 points higher on Friday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as this week's jobless claims report from the Department of Labor came in at a Covid-era low of 712,000.

On Friday, the jobs market was again in focus, with traders thumbing over this week's nonfarm payrolls data from the Labor Department.

The report revealed US employment accelerated at a much weaker-than-expected clip in November, while the unemployment rate fell from 6.8% to 6.7% despite a surge in the number of new Covid-19 cases.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 245,000, softer than the gain of 460,000 predicted by economists, while the labour force participation rate also slipped - down 0.2 points to 61.5%.

Infinox's Ulas Akincilar said: "Overall the picture is of a labour market recovery that is running out of steam, and as the US braces for another painful spike in Covid cases in the run-up to Christmas, the momentum is likely to fade further.

"On that basis, Congress will come under intense pressure to offer more fiscal support, and for US stock market bulls this is more than enough for them to keep pushing equity prices ever higher."

Stimulus talks were also drawing an amount of attention yet again, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaking on the phone yesterday for the first time since the presidential election.

On the macro front, new orders for US-made goods jumped 1% month-on-month in October, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 1.1% rise in the previous month and above expectations for a print of 0.8% to mark the sixth consecutive month of rising factory orders.

Elsewhere, America's trade deficit widened in October, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, with a 2.2% gain in exports modestly outpacing imports at 2.1%, leading the overall balance to expand 1.7% to a deficit of $63.1bn.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.