Dow rises over 500 points as Wall Street shrugs off dismal jobs report

The Dow jumped more than 500 points on Friday, recovering some losses from the previous session, as Amazon’s strong earnings offset Apple’s weaker sales in China and investors assessed a significant slowdown in US job growth in October.

In recent trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 496 points, or 1.2%, to 42,259.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq gained 1.3%.

All three major indexes remained on track for weekly declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set for their worst week in eight.

Amazon rose 6.5%, on track for its best day since February, as strong retail sales lifted its profit above Wall Street estimates.

Meanwhile, they fell 0.5% despite beating quarterly sales forecasts as investors worried about a decline in China’s sales.

Equity markets largely overlooked weak October non-farm payrolls data due to disruptions from hurricanes and strikes.

The data showed an increase of 12,000 jobs, much less than economists’ estimate of an increase of 113,000.

However, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, reassuring investors that the labor market remained on solid footing ahead of the presidential election.

“This doesn’t change much from what’s expected from a Fed standpoint or thinking around the slowing economy,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.

After the release of the data, investors largely stuck with bets that the central bank would cut interest rates by 25 basis points in both November and December.

Treasury yields fell after the work report.

They had risen to near four-month highs in recent weeks, pressuring stocks.

The ISM for manufacturing in the US in October stood at 46.5, slightly below the forecast of 47.6.

The Nov. 5 election is on investors’ minds, with many analysts predicting a close race and some uncertainty about the final outcome.

The Fed’s November meeting starts the following day.

Unsurprisingly, equity volatility has picked up in recent days, with the CBOE Volatility Index trading around a three-week high, although it was down slightly from Thursday’s nearly two-month high.

“We will have to continue to watch to see if there is a broader trend of slowing for tech spending and the productivity coming out of the sector,” Ripley said.

Intel rose 5.4% after a better-than-expected revenue forecast and lifted other chip stocks, with Nvidia up 2.3%.

Oil majors also rose, with Chevron adding 4% after beating third-quarter profit estimates on higher oil production.

Shares in Boeing rose 2.4% after a union of striking workers approved an improved contract offer, with members expected to vote on Monday.