FX.co ★ U.S. Stocks Likely To Extend Rally On Jobs Data, Apple Earnings

After the last stock market rally, indications suggest that the stocks will exhibit another robust upward surge in the forthcoming trading session on Friday. According to the current predominant index futures, market openings will be significantly higher, with S&P 500 futures experiencing an upswing of about 1.2%.

Another considerable surge in futures was triggered by the release of an anticipated report from the Labor Department. Contrary to expectations, job growth in the U.S. for April was substantially lower. Non-agricultural payroll employment saw an uptake of 175,000 jobs in April, following an upwards revised surge of 315,000 jobs in March.

Regarding job growth, economists had initially projected an increase of 243,000 jobs, as opposed to the original figure of 303,000 jobs stated for the previous month. However, the recent data reveals that the unemployment rate for April slightly escalated to 3.9% from March's figure of 3.8%, even though expectations predicted it would remain stable.

In reaction to the job growth report, Treasury yields experienced a drastic decline, with the ten-year benchmark note yield falling below 4.5%. This statistical drop in Treasury yields, coupled with the recent job data, should further alleviate concerns about the future of interest rates.

The stock market's positive response to the unemployment data was further bolstered by a striking pre-market surge of 7.2% in Apple shares. This increase follows the tech giant's release of better than expected results for the second fiscal quarter, and the announcement made about a $110 billion stock buyback.

Additionally, the Institute for Supply Management is expected to release its April report on service sector activities soon after the commencement of trading. The expectation is that the ISM's service PMI for April will register a slight increase to 52.0 from 51.4 in March, where any figure above 50 signifies growth.

After a period of early fluctuations in Thursday's trading session, sharp upward trends were reported. Despite a slight retreat from their peak levels, the markets ended on a high, with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all securing firm gains.

In overseas trading, most Asia-Pacific stock markets displayed a positive trend on Friday, with Japan's and mainland China's markets closed for holidays. Both Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index registered increases as well, with gains of 1.5% and 0.6% respectively. Europe’s major markets also showed promising upwards trends.

In commodity trading, crude oil futures showed a rise, so did gold futures after a minor slip in the previous session. As for currency trading, the U.S. dollar traded at 152.07 yen against the previous 153.64 yen, while against the euro, the dollar rose slightly to $1.0802 from the previous $1.0725.