U.S. Stocks Continue To Turn In Strong Performance In Afternoon Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly higher early in the session, stocks have seen further upside over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages have all climbed firmly into positive territory, extending the upward move seen throughout the week.

Currently, the major averages are off their best levels but still posting strong gains. The Nasdaq is up 178.11 points or 1.3 percent at 13,472.30, the S&P 500 is up 45.90 points or 1.1 percent at 4,363.68 and the Dow is up 266.86 points or 0.8 percent at 34,105.94.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflects a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing U.S. employment rose by less than expected in the month of October.

The closely watched report said employment climbed by 150,000 jobs in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 297,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 180,000 jobs compared to the surge of 336,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate crept up to 3.9 percent in October from 3.8 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The data has added to optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates after the central bank left rates unchanged for the third time in four meetings earlier this week.

Treasury yields are extending a recent slump following the release of the report, adding to the buying interest on Wall Street.

"Given that jobs growth is slowing and the unemployment rate is ticking up slightly, that is the kind of data that will keep the Fed on hold and both stock and bond prices should move higher (bond yields lower) in the absence of a more aggressive Fed," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.

A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of October.

The ISM said its services PMI fell to 51.8 in October from 53.6 in September, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 53.0.

Sector News

Airline stocks continue to see substantial strength in afternoon trading, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 5.1 percent. The index continues to recover after ending Wednesday's trading at its lowest closing level in over three years.

Considerable strength also remains visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 4.4 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery inching up $5.10 to $1,998.60 an ounce.

Interest-sensitive housing stocks also continue to turn in a strong performance, resulting in a 3.6 percent surge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Banking, biotechnology and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing notable strength, while oil stocks are among the few groups bucking the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved notably higher on Friday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index soared by 2.5 percent, while South Korea's Kospi jumped by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back off their best levels but remain sharply higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 11.9 basis points at 4.550 percent.