The Dow Jones Industrial Average held a 1.2% gain near midday Friday, helped by a strong performance by Apple. The tech icon reported stronger-than-expected iPhone revenue late Thursday.
Chevron and American Express also outperformed in the Dow Jones in morning trade after the blue-chip index made a stand at its 50-day moving average Thursday.
Oil stocks outperformed overall, with WTI crude oil futures up 4% to around $71.50 per barrel. Occidental Petroleum, a big holding for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, added 3% ahead of next week's earnings report. Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha starts Saturday.
Meanwhile, financial stocks snapped back after harsh selling on Thursday. PacWest rebounded sharply after plunging more than 50% on liquidity concerns. Western Alliance also bounced sharply after a 38% haircut. The SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF jumped more than 5%.
Zions Bancorp, Comerica and KeyCorp were top gainers in the S&P 500.
Outside the Dow Jones
The Nasdaq composite gapped above 12,000 and remounted short-term moving averages. Winners beat losers on the tech-heavy exchange by about 2.5-to-1. Volume was slightly lower on the Nasdaq compared to the same time Thursday.
The S&P 500 added 1.5%, with advancing stocks swamping decliners by more than 5-to-1. NYSE volume was also lower.
Small caps also did well, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF up 1.9%. But the index remains on a downtrend, with several technical challenges to overcome, including tough resistance at its 50- and 200-day lines.
The Dow Jones made more progress from its 50-day line and has its sights set once again on the 34,000 level.
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Despite Friday's early gains, the stock market uptrend remains under pressure amid increasing signs of distribution in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. You can monitor the distribution day count in The Big Picture every day.
Another strong jobs report was also in the spotlight.
April nonfarm payrolls rose much more than expected to 253,000, well ahead of the 178,000 consensus. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 3.4%. Job growth in March was revised lower to 165,000 from an initial estimate of 236,000. Wages increased 4.4% year over year, slightly ahead of the 4.2% consensus.
The strong data fueled hopes that a soft landing is still possible for the U.S. economy despite ongoing inflation fears.
Earlier in the week, ADP reported that private payrolls doubled expectations, up 296,000 vs. the 143,000 consensus
The 10-year Treasury yield added 11 basis points to 3.46%. Despite the strong jobs report, futures traders widely expect the Federal Reserve to pause at the June and July meetings, with a 75% chance of a rate cut in September.
Gold and gold mining stocks came under pressure, with gold futures dumping nearly 2% to just over $2,000 an ounce. After clearing a 59.63 buy point Thursday, Agnico-Eagle Mines pared early losses and was near session highs.
Earnings Movers
There were a lot of strong price gainers outside the Dow Jones Friday.
DraftKings gapped up after the sports-betting firm reported Q1 2023 revenue of $769.65 million, well ahead of $697.01 million estimates.
Crypto exchange operator Coinbase also surged on earnings. But COIN stock remains below all major moving averages, which marks steep overhead supply. The 61-63 level could still be a tough nut to crack.
After two straight higher-volume declines, travel company Booking Holdings paid a visit to its 50-day moving average on news that adjusted profit soared 197% to $11.60 per share. Revenue growth accelerated from Q4, rising 40% to $3.78 billion. But the revenue number was only in line with expectations
Fortinet moved powerfully above its 50-day moving average after a heavy-volume pullback. The security software firm reported a 79% jump in quarterly profit, with revenue up 32% to $1.26 billion.
Inside the MarketSmith Growth 250, biotech Apellis Pharmaceuticals gapped up after reporting revenue of $44.9 million, up 212%.
Vista Energy made a stand at its 50-day line, rising more than 6%.
Please follow Ken Shreve on Twitter at IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
