S&P 500 Futures Rebound Along With Dollar as Nonfarm Payrolls Beat

New York (July 8)  U.S. stocks rebounded Friday, as the dollar strengthened following a robust jobs report that alleviated concerns about a slowing economy.

The large-cap S&P 500 Index climbed 0.6% to 2,425.18, partially offsetting the previous day’s sharp drop. With the gain, the benchmark average broke even for the week.

 Most of the S&P 500’s 11 main groupings finished in positive territory, with technology shares rising 1.3%. Financials rose 0.6% and shares of discretionary companies added 0.8%.

Energy stocks slid 0.1% as oil prices traded sharply lower in New York.

Rebounding technology shares drove the Nasdaq Composite Index sharply higher. The tech-laden index closed up 1% at 6,153.08 The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to close at 21,414.34.

The U.S. economy gained 222,000 jobs last month, representing the second-largest increase of the year, data from the Labor Department showed. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey called for a monthly gain of 178,000 workers.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% from 4.3% as more Americans entered the workforce.

Hourly wage gains amounted to 2.5% annually, unchanged from the previous month and slightly below forecasts.

Strong jobs data lifted the U.S. dollar, with the closely-watched DXY dollar index climbing 0.2% to 96.00.

Despite lackluster wage growth, the month’s data underscored a resilient labor market that is attracting more people off the sidelines. Analysts have also suggested that weak earnings data partially reflects weak productivity and the retirement of high-wage earners.

A measure of implied volatility known as the CBOE VIX declined sharply on Friday, just one day after surging to seven-week highs. A rotation on the sector front has triggered heavy selling pressure on Wall Street in recent weeks, with technology stocks suffering the biggest declines.

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