S&P 500 Index opens higher led by financial shares

Wall Street's main indexes started the last day of the week in the positive territory.
Nonfarm Payrolls in the US rose 1.37 million in August.
Financial shares post strong gains boosted by surging T-bond yields.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Following Thursday's heavy selloff, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) opened in the positive territory on Friday as the upbeat jobs report from the US provided a boost to market sentiment. As of writing, the SPX was up 0.5% on the day at 3,473. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 0.7% on the day at 28,495 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 0.42% at 11,821.

The monthly data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls in August rose by 1.37 million, which was largely in line with the market expectation. Additionally, the Unemployment Rate declined to 8.4% from 10.2%.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Financials Index is up 1.5% on the day fueled by a more-than-6% increase in the 10-year US Treasury bond yield. On the other hand, the Communication Services Index is the only macro sector trading in the negative territory.

S&P 500 chart (daily)

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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