Upbeat Jobs Data Contributes To Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the release of upbeat jobs data, stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Friday. The major averages have all moved to the upside on the day, adding to the modest gains posted in the previous session.

In recent trading, the major averages have pulled back off their best levels, but they remain positive. The Dow is up 52.62 points or 0.3 percent at 20,910.81, the Nasdaq is up 26.78 points or 0.5 percent at 5,865.58 and the S&P 500 is up 8.50 points or 0.4 percent at 2,373.37.

The strength on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of February.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 235,000 jobs in February after surging up by a revised 238,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to climb by about 195,000 jobs compared to the addition of 227,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.7 percent in February from 4.8 percent in January, matching expectations.

The report also said the annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 2.8 percent in February from 2.6 percent in January.

"Taking it altogether we have a picture of strong job creation with the tightening labor market increasingly generating wage and inflationary pressures," said ING Senior Economist James Knightley.

The upbeat jobs data has reinforced expectations of an increase in interest rates at next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

CME Group's FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 93.0 probability of a quarter-point rate hike by the central bank.

Housing stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.4 percent. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in almost eleven years.

The strength among housing stocks may be partly due to the Labor Department report showing a significant increase in employment in the construction industry.

Gold and semiconductor stocks are also seeing significant strength, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest upward moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has edged up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasures have turned higher over the course of the morning after seeing early weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.4 basis points at 2.584 percent.