US stocks surged as new payroll data for September showed that the US economy added far fewer jobs than Wall Street had expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) surged 1.2% after touching an intraday record high during the session.
The Nasdaq ended the week in green territory, while the Dow and S&P 500 posted weekly losses.
Treasury yields initially fell following the jobs report, but then rose again. The 10-year Treasury (^TNX) moved to 5.28% while the 30-year yield (^TYX) hovered near 5.63%.
7,722.72 +56.27 (+0.73%)
At close: October 2 at 4:59:13 PM EDT
^GSPC ^IXIC ^DJI
The US added just 29,000 jobs in September, short of economists’ expectations of 90,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%, according to Labor Department data released Friday. Economists had expected it to remain steady at 4.1%.
The data could play a role in the Fed’s decision on whether to hike interest rates at its next meeting. Following the report, bond traders rushed to pare back bets of a Fed hike in October, seeing a 16% chance of a rate hike compared to 64% odds priced a week ago.
Fed officials, in recent days, have argued that the central bank has time to assess inflation data before moving, though they agree that inflation remains too high.
The ongoing war in the Middle East, now entering its eighth month, has driven much of the inflationary pressures. President Trump has said he’s considering resuming bombing Iran after the midterm elections, but has also said he’s looking for a resolution of the war at that time. On Thursday, the US reportedly sent an additional aircraft carrier and 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Persian Gulf, Bloomberg reported.
Brent crude futures (BZ=F), the global benchmark, rose slightly to near $102 per barrel.
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Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as tech rallies after weak jobs report
US stocks jumped on Friday, led by tech stocks, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report cemented expectations that the Fed will remain on hold at the October policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained by 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 1.2%, just a stone’s throw away from a record high.
The Nasdaq ended the week with gains, while the Dow and S&P 500 saw weekly losses.
7,722.72 +56.27 (+0.73%)
At close: October 2 at 4:59:13 PM EDT
AI hardware giant Nvidia (NVDA) briefly touched an intraday high on Friday, helping lead the tech sector higher.
Bond yields eased following the September jobs report, easing concerns of another Fed rate hike later this month.
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Bitcoin tops $85,000 on fading expectations of Fed rate hike
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose to hover above $85,000 while ether (ETH-USD) also gained on Friday.
The move came as investors dialed down expectations of a Fed rate hike this month following the release of a weaker than expected jobs report.
October is seasonally positive for crypto, with Fundstrat’s head of digital assets, Sean Farrell, saying “the setup shifted in a bullish direction the past couple of days.”
Farrell noted that Fed rhetoric has become somewhat more measured, and front-end bond yields are finally moving lower.
“Seasonality is also becoming a tailwind. October has historically been crypto’s strongest month, with the highest median and average returns and an ~80% win rate,” said Farrell.
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G7 nations announce plan to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel to the market in response to White House pressure
The G7 countries will release 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel onto the open market, spurred by pressure from the Trump administration to open their stocks and potentially alleviate global diesel price pressures.
The release of crude and diesel stores, set to be coordinated by the IEA, will take place over four months, led by a “substantial diesel release” within 20 days from the G7 members and the bloc’s partners. The releases were first announced by French president Emmanuel Macron.
“Facing unprecedented volatility in oil markets … we have agreed on decisive, coordinated measures to stabilize immediate energy supplies, shield households and business from price shocks, and strengthen the long-term resilience of global energy systems,” the G7 said in a statement.
G7 leaders held talks on October 2, 2026, to coordinate action on tackling high fuel prices, after Washington upped pressure on Europe to release its strategic reserves or face a US diesel export ban. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS · via REUTERS / REUTERS The announcement comes after several days of pressure from the Trump White House for European nations to release oil products from their national reserves, with the goal being to relieve pressure on global diesel prices. In the US, diesel prices have surged upward, averaging $6.37 nationally on Friday, just weeks ahead of critical midterm elections.
In their statement, the G7 nations noted their “commitment to refrain from export restrictions on energy and energy products between G7 countries” and called on “all producers to refrain from imposing bans that could exacerbate market tensions.
President Trump has expressed support for a potential export ban on diesel from the US, which has become a critical source of the fuel for global buyers, including Europe. The president threatened in recent days to impose such a ban if the European nations didn’t agree to a release from their own stores.
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Paramount to become Skydance after megamerger with Warner Bros. closes
Yahoo Finance’s Michael Kelley reports:
The studios and digital media juggernaut arising from the $110 billion merger of Paramount (PSKY) and Warner Bros. (WBD) now has a name: Skydance.
“We chose this name for a few important reasons,” Paramount CEO David Ellison posted on X. “First and foremost, as we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic. Both have distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands that have resonated with audiences for generations. We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one.”
Ellison, son of Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, added that the company “wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own.”
Skydance is the name of the production company that the younger Ellison founded in 2006 and merged with Paramount in 2025.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com
