Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, July 6, 2018. US stocks ended higher on Friday as investors cheered better-than-expected jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 99.74 points, or 0.41 percent, to 24,456.48. The S&P 500 increased 23.21 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,759.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 101.96 points, or 1.34 percent, to 7,688.39. (Photo: Xinhua)
US stocks ended higher on Friday as investors cheered better-than-expected jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 99.74 points, or 0.41 percent, to 24,456.48. The S&P 500 increased 23.21 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,759.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 101.96 points, or 1.34 percent, to 7,688.39.
The Dow's gains were led by Walgreens Boots Alliance and Microsoft. Shares of both companies rose about 1.4 percent at market closing.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with health and tech rising more than 1 percent, outperforming the rest. The Nasdaq Composite also advanced, as shares of Biogen surged 19.63 percent.
Investors digested the latest data from US labor market.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 213,000 in June, beating market consensus, the US Labor Department said on Friday.
Job growth occurred in professional and business services, manufacturing, and health care, while retail trade lost jobs.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent and wage climbed 2.7 percent on a year-over-year basis in June, it said.
Wall Street also kept a close watch to the latest US-China tariff moves.
The new US tariffs on 34 billion US dollars of imports from China took effect on Friday. Immediately after that, China's retaliatory tariffs of equal scale went into force.
Fears of intensifying trade wars between Washington and other major economies lingered, which would cap market gains, experts noted.