Dow Jones and S&P500: US Indices Climb as Markets Digest Mixed Employment Data

Markets Open Higher Amid Jobs Data and Tariff Uncertainty

The major U.S. stock indexes are higher shortly after the opening on Friday. Traders are holding prices steady in reaction to a neutral U.S. jobs report and ahead of a potential U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs.

At 15:20 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 49322.23, up 56.12 or +0.11%. The S&P 500 Index is trading 6940.19, up 18.73 or +0.27% and the Nasdaq Composite is at 23549.063, up 69.047 or +0.29%.

Stocks are on pace for a winning week. The S&P 500 Index is up about 1% this week, while the Dow and Nasdaq have outperformed with 2.1% and 1.1% performances, respectively.

December Jobs Report Shows Mixed Signals

In economic news, the December labor market report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 last month, less than the 73,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast. The number fell below the forecast, however, it still indicated steady growth with investors betting on further improvement throughout the year.

To go along with the payrolls number, the government also reported the unemployment rate inched down to 4.4% versus a forecast of 4.5%. This was a drop from the previously reported 4.6% for November and another sign of an improving economy.

In my opinion, this mixed report did little to clarify the state of the labor market and it’s likely to keep the Fed on hold while the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) looks for signs of further labor softening.

Supreme Court Delays Tariff Ruling

In other news, the U.S. Supreme Court said there would be no ruling on Trump tariffs today. A ruling on the legality of President Trump’s tariffs would have had far-reaching impacts on not only trade policy, but also the U.S. fiscal situation.

Sector Performance: Utilities Lead the Way

Nine out of 11 sectors are moving higher on Friday, led by a 1.88% jump in Utilities. Materials (0.86%) and Industrials (0.84%) continue to impress. Energy, which started the week on a strong note, is up 0.55%. Technology, however, continues to struggle, dropping 0.05% in the first 30 minutes of trading.

Individual Stock Movers

Some stocks are outperforming the major indexes on Friday. Vistra and Oklo, two nuclear power companies, are up 15% and 18%, respectively, after striking a deal to provide power for Meta’s AI projects.

Intel’s shares jumped nearly 3% after President Trump posted a flattering message about the company on social media following his meeting with the firm’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Southwest Airlines rose more than 3% after receiving an upgrade to overweight from underweight by JPMorgan.

General Motors shares fell 2% after the automobile company said late Thursday it would take $7.1 billion in special charges for the fourth quarter due to its restructuring in China and electric-vehicle demand pullback.

Technical Analysis: S&P 500 Futures Near All-Time High

March E-mini S&P 500 Index futures are edging higher on Friday. The market is within striking distance of the all-time high at 7014.00 after recovering from a new minor bottom on Thursday at 6935.25.

The first support is the uptrend line from the 6583.00 main bottom that has been guiding the market higher since November 21. It comes in at 6907.50. Look for a technical bounce on the first test of this indicator.

A failure to hold the trend line support will indicate increased selling pressure with the 50-day moving average the next downside target at 6885.00.

More Information in our Economic Calendar.