U.S. stocks decided to throw a party on Friday because apparently, they were feeling pretty good about life. The S&P 500 was like, “Hey, let’s keep this winning streak going for a ninth day in a row!” And you know what? It did just that, making it the longest winning streak in like forever, well, actually in 20 years. The S&P 500 was up by 1.47%, which was its ninth straight day of gains, beating its previous record back in November 2004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also joined the party, gaining 1.39% or over 570 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was like, “I’m not missing out on this fun!” and climbed by 1.51%.
So, what got everyone in such a good mood? Well, apparently the Labor Department decided to drop some good news with its April employment report, revealing that the U.S. added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls. This number totally blew economists’ minds because they were only expecting around 135,000. And get this, the unemployment rate didn’t budge, staying steady at 4.2%, which basically means that the labor market is like, “I got this, no big deal.”
But wait, there’s more! China also decided to be all friendly and stuff by hinting that they might be down to have a chat about trade with the U.S. China’s Commerce Ministry was all like, “Hey, we’re checking out those proposals from the U.S. and if they roll back those new tariffs, we’re totally game for some formal talks.” This change in attitude was quite surprising after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff drama on April 2.
Despite all the good vibes in the air, there were still some concerns lingering around, especially after some Big Tech companies spilled the beans on their earnings. Apple was all like, “Yo, tariffs might cost us $900 million this quarter,” and their shares dropped by almost 5%. Amazon, on the other hand, was like, “Eh, our guidance isn’t exactly what analysts were hoping for,” so their shares didn’t really move much.
But hey, let’s not rain on the parade! Investors were still cautious, though, keeping an eye out for any hints on interest rates. Traders were like, “Are we getting a Fed cut in June or nah?” Treasury yields decided to do their own thing and go up, while the dollar was like, “I’m just gonna slip down a bit, no biggie.” Markets were just taking a breather and trying to figure out what’s next.
In conclusion, it seems like the stock market was in a pretty good mood on Friday. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite were all feeling the positive vibes thanks to some good job growth numbers and friendly signals from China. Despite some concerns about tariffs and earnings, investors were cautiously optimistic about the future. Let’s see what next week brings!
