Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2025.
NYSE
Stock futures rose early Friday as Wall Street digested the latest nonfarm payrolls data.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 360 points, or 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.8%. Futures tied to the broad-based index added 0.9%.
Payrolls grew by 177,000 in April, above the 133,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated. The figure is still down sharply from the 228,000 added in March. The unemployment rate also stood at 4.2%, in line with expectations.
The payrolls report is the latest in a blast of economic data this week, with a gross domestic product reading that showed the economy contracted 0.3% at an annualized pace in the first quarter. Private payrolls data from ADP also came in weak, and the latest weekly jobless claims ballooned to 241,000, higher than expected.
Investors were already upbeat prior to the strong jobs report after China said that it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S. Chinese authorities also reaffirmed that the U.S. should remove all unilateral tariffs, saying that “if the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs,” according to the statement.
The Street was also mulling over earnings reports from two “Magnificent Seven” members. Apple slid 3% in premarket trading after posting fiscal second-quarter revenue from its Services division that fell short against Wall Street’s estimates. The iPhone maker also said it expects to add $900 million in costs in the current quarter due to tariffs. Meanwhile, Amazon rose 1% after its first-quarter results came in better than expected. However, it issued light guidance, highlighting “tariffs and trade policies” as factors.
The moves come after the major averages rose to kick off May, with the tech sector catching a tailwind after results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft helped revive the artificial intelligence trade. The 30-stock Dow added 0.2%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.6%. Both indexes posted eight-day win streaks. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5% and wiped out its losses since April 2, the day of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs announcement.
Nearly two-thirds of the S&P 500 constituents have announced their results, with 76% posting earnings that have surpassed estimates, according to data from FactSet.
“I think obviously you’ve had some dialing back of the tariff intensity, but Q1 earnings have been at the huge driver behind the rally we’ve seen in the S&P 500,” Adam Crisafulli, Vital Knowledge founder, said Thursday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
Thus far, all three major averages are on pace for their second winning week in a row. The S&P 500 is on pace to rise 1.4% this week, while the Dow is on track for a 1.6% advance. The Nasdaq is up 1.9% week to date.
Correction: An earlier version misstated which tech companies reported on Thursday.
