Shares up as jobs print boosts hop of Fed hold

(AWP Alliance News) - Shares ended higher in New York as a softer than expected September jobs print boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates on hold at its October meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 250.40 points, 0.5%, at 51,176.96. The S&P 500 rose 56.27 points, 0.7%, to 7,722.72. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 319.27 points, 1.2%, at 27,190.86.

For the week, the DJIA lost 1.3%, the S&P fell 0.3% and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%.

"Equities are rallying as the US jobs market shows clear signs of losing momentum, with September payrolls rising by just 29,000 and previous months revised sharply lower. The slowdown in job creation, combined with almost no increase in wages, suggests employment is becoming less of an inflationary threat and reduces the likelihood of further Fed rate hikes this year. While the weakness raises concerns about the health of the US economy, investors are focusing on the prospect that interest rates may not rise much further, giving equities a fresh boost." said IG Chief Technical Analyst Axel Rudolph.

"The US dollar index - having reached its highest level since April 2025 - is seen giving back some of its recent gains after today's much weaker-than-expected US employment data as the odds of a December Fed rate hike diminish. Crude oil prices are also falling as fears of a severe global fuel shortage ease, with Middle Eastern crude flows recovering and European governments discussing the release of strategic diesel and crude stockpiles. France has proposed releasing around 50 million barrels of diesel and 50 million barrels of crude, while the G7 has agreed to a wider coordinated release, potentially adding significant supply to the market. At the same time, improving tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is reducing the immediate supply risk, prompting traders to unwind some of the geopolitical risk premium that had pushed oil sharply higher."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said nonfarm payroll employment increased by 29,000 in September, slowing sharply from a downwardly revised 133,000 increase in August and below the FXStreet consensus of 90,000.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% from 4.1%, while the consensus had expected it to remain unchanged at 4.1%. The number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.1 million.

The labour force participation rate increased to 61.8% from 61.6%, while the employment-to-population ratio was 59.2%.

"This is the exact kind of number the market wanted from a labor standpoint," Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic, told CNBC. "Not too hot, not too cold...not overly great, and not weakening."

After the report, the CME FedWatch tool placed the likelihood at 77.3% that the Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady on October 28.

The BLS also revised previous months' payroll figures lower. July's change was revised down by 31,000 to a decline of 10,000 jobs from an initially reported increase of 21,000, while August's gain was cut by 29,000 to 133,000 from 162,000.

Combined, the revisions showed 60,000 fewer jobs were added in July and August than previously reported.

Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1256, up from USD1.1242 on Thursday. Sterling rose to USD1.3244 from USD1.3196. Against the yen, the dollar was at JPY157.85, down from JPY158.06.

Gold fell to USD4,143.96 an ounce from USD4,175.92.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was at 5.28% late Friday, up from 5.25% on Thursday. The 30-year yield rose to 5.63% from 5.62%.

A barrel of Brent fetched USD102.84 late Friday, up from USD102.36 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD91.50 from USD93.11.

G7 countries agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their reserves over four months to ease global energy supply concerns.

France's Emmanuel Macron convened talks after a conversation with US President Donald Trump, focused on coordinating a response to higher fuel prices among the G7 economies.

"We reaffirm our commitment to refrain from export restrictions on energy and energy products between G7 countries and call on all producers to refrain from imposing bans that could exacerbate market tensions," G7 leaders said in a statement.

They also said there would be no ban on diesel exports between them.

On the corporate front, Amazon on Friday pledged more than USD1 billion over five years for US communities that host its data centers.

Under Amazon's "Data Center Commitment," it promises that its facilities will not drive up local electricity bills and that it will publish annual figures on energy and water use.

Microsoft made a similar move in March, the first major tech firm to do so.

Amazon ended up 1.3%.

Nike shares fell 3.6% on Friday after it reported mixed results for the three months to August 31.

Net income fell 2.1% on-year to USD712 million. Basic and diluted earnings per share declined to USD0.48 from USD0.49 a year ago, beating FactSet consensus of USD0.43. Revenue dipped 4.4% to USD11.21 billion compared with USD11.72 billion a year ago, or by 5% at constant currency rates, missing FactSet consensus of USD11.38 billion.

By region, North America sales rose 2.2% on-year, Europe, Middle East & Asia fell 4.5%, Greater China slumped 22% and Asia Pacific & Latin America ebbed 3.5%.

But Markets had expects China sales to fall just 12%.

"I...would not look at Nike as a bellwether for the upcoming earnings season either, which kicks off in about two weeks," noted Kevin Matras at Zacks.

onsemi late Thursday said it had revised its merger agreement with Synaptics following an unsolicited competing proposal from a third party.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based semiconductor supplier onsemi will acquire chipmaker Synaptics or USD123.00 per share in cash for an aggregate value of approximately USD5.7 billion.

Back in June, onsemi offered USD7.0 billion for the company, noting that Synaptics provides "differentiated Edge [artificial intelligence] compute franchise and strong portfolio of human-machine interface and wireless connectivity solutions."

onsemi ended up 6.0%.

Ford on Friday said it sold 509,764 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, down 6.6% year on year, reflecting the planned phase-out of Escape and Corsair. Adjusting for Escape and Corsair, Ford's total vehicle sales volume was essentially unchanged compared with an industry decline of about 1%, the firm said.

Ford closed down 1.4%.

Elon Musk-led Tesla produced 464,391 vehicles in the quarter, up 3.8% from 447,450 for the same quarter in 2025. Total deliveries, however, fell 2.1% to 486,532 from 497,099.

Tesla produced 457,387 Model 3/Y vehicles, up from 435,825 on-year, though deliveries declined to 478,237 from 481,166.

Tesla ended up 4.7%.

Stellantis on Thursday said third quarter US sales rose 3.3% on-year to 958,463 units from 928,023 units. Sales edged down 0.2% to 324,277 from 324,825 on-year.

Stellantis lost 6.2% in New York.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.3% in London. The CAC 40 gained 0.8% in Paris. The DAX 40 rose 1.2% in Frankfurt.

In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.3%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 2.6%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.8% in Sydney.

Monday's global economic calendar has global services PMI reports. Daylight saving time starts in Australia

By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter

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