Stock Market Today: Dow Gains, but Ends Weekly Win Streak Amid Mixed Jobs Report

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The Dow gained Friday as investors mulled a mixed jobs report and speculation about China easing Covid-19 lockdown measures, but that wasn't enough to prevent the market from snapping a three-week win streak following the Fed's rate hike this week. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.26%, or 402 points, and the Nasdaq was up 1.28%, and the S&P 500 rose 1.38%.

The U.S. economy produced 261,000 jobs last month, well above economists’ forecasts for 200,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate rose more than expected to 3.7%, but while this may be welcomed by the Fed, it isn’t enough to encourage the central bank to pivot as other parts of the report showed rising wages and a falling participation rate.

The stronger jobs report comes just ahead of fresh inflation data next week, which if continues to show inflation running hot would lift the prospect of another 75 basis point hike next month.

“If inflation hasn't started to maybe dip below 8%, then I think probably the Fed is on tap for another 75 basis point [in December],” Tim Courtney, Chief Investment Officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors told Investing.com in an interview on Friday.

Treasury yields added to gains, keeping a lid on gains in rate-sensitive sectors including tech, which is on course to post a 7% loss for the week.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) cut losses to end the slightly negative, but Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained more than 3%.

Materials, however, led the broader market higher as commodities including copper and iron ore surged on speculation about China easing Covid-19 restrictions.

Newmont Goldcorp Corp (NYSE:NEM), LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), and Freeport-McMoran Copper&Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) rallied, with the latter up more than 10%.

Speculation about a China reopening also drove Chinese tech stocks higher including Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) and JD.com (NASDAQ:JD).

On the earnings front, quarterly results were mixed.

PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) fell more than 1% as lower full-year revenue guidance amid concerns about slowing economic growth offset quarterly results that beat on both the top and bottom lines.

The lower guidance “incorporates consumer discretionary spend slowdown given inflation impacts to non-discretionary items,” Oppenheimer said, though added that “PayPal is a strong long-term holding.”

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), however, rallied more than 8% after the coffee chain reported better-than-expected results, driven by strength in its U.S. and international businesses.

Block (NYSE:SQ) also reported a third-quarter beat on both the top and bottom lines, led by growth in its subscriber-based revenues in its Cash App.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), however, plunged 28% after the sports betting company reported a narrower loss in Q3, but warned of the impact on consumer demand from a weaker economic backdrop.