WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved to the downside at the start of trading
on Friday but have shown a notable turnaround over the course of the session.
The major averages have bounced well off their lows of the session and into
positive territory.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 141.53
points or 0.4 percent at 39,027.70, the Nasdaq is up 13.01 points or 0.1 percent
at 17,186.13 and the S&P 500 is up 11.88 points or 0.2 percent at 5,364.84.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came as a Labor Department report showing
much stronger than expected job growth in April offset recent optimism about the
outlook for interest rates.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as the
report also helped quell recent concerns about the strength of the economy.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 272,000 jobs in
May after climbing by a downwardly revised 165,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 185,000 jobs compared to
the addition of 175,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the annual rate of growth by average hourly employee
earnings accelerated to 4.1 percent in May from 4.0 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.0
percent in May from 3.9 percent in April. The unemployment rate was expected to
remain unchanged.

With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level
since hitting a matching rate in January 2022.

Treasury yields surged in reaction to the data, the yield on the benchmark
ten-year note bouncing well off its lowest levels in over two months.

'This report places more emphasis on next week's release of the CPI report,
which could move markets in either direction and similarly modify the Fed's
stance regarding future policy,' said Quincy Krosby, Chief Global Strategist for
LPL Financial

Sector News

Despite the gains being posted by the major averages, gold stocks have moved
sharply lower on the day, resulting in a 4.9 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca
Gold Bugs Index.

The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of the precious
metal, with gold for August delivery plunging $53.30 to$2,337.60 an ounce.

Housing stocks have also shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the
Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.5 percent to its lowest intraday
level in a month.

Telecom, steel and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing notable
weakness, while some strength is visible among banking and pharmaceutical
stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a
mixed performance on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent
and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai
Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi jumped by 1.2
percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day.
While the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is
down by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower in reaction to the
stronger than expected monthly jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the
benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 14.7 basis
points at 4.428 percent.



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