Stocks rise as investors weigh Big Tech earnings, key jobs data: Live updates

Stocks rose Friday as Wall Street parsed the earnings from big-name technology companies and a cooler-than-expected July jobs report. Yields also pulled back from recent highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 170 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.6%.

Wall Street assessed a deluge of earnings reports, including results from Amazon. The e-commerce stock jumped 9% — on track for its best day since November — after trouncing expectations on profit and offering positive guidance. Apple lost around 3% on revenue lower revenue from the year-ago quarter.

Beyond mega-cap tech, DraftKings popped 13% on the back of a report that exceeded analyst expectations, while Booking Holdings gained 6% on stronger-than-expected results.

So far this season about 84% of S&P 500 companies have given results, with about 80% surpassing Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.

“The last batch of Q2 earnings this week delivered more beats, resilient margins, stable guidance and showed appetite for capex/capital returns, despite worries about the economy,” said Emmanual Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays. “Positive EPS momentum has supported the rally, but rates volatility is back in the driver’s seat.”

Investors also got another hint into the state of the labor market, with Friday’s payrolls report. The data showed 187,000 jobs added in July, less than the 200,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate also ticked lower to 3.5% from 3.6%.

Despite the cooler headline numbers, average hourly wages pointed toward more inflation and came in ahead of expectations, rising 0.4% for the month, and 4.4% on an annualized basis. That came in slightly ahead of the 0.3% and 4.2% expected, respectively.

“Higher for longer is still the base case for interest rates, but if employment numbers continue to cool, it will make it easier for the Fed to shift to a less-hawkish stance,” said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office. “There are two sides to this coin, though: If the labor market slows too much, recession concerns could gain new traction.”

The 10-year Treasury yield also pulled back from a multi-month high to 4.123%. Its rise in recent sessions had pressured risk assets.

All the major indexes are on pace to end the week lower. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 are down about 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively. The Dow has slid 0.2% on a week-to-date basis.