Wall Street surged into rally mode during the final trading session of the week as better-than-expected jobs data helped ease fears of an economic slowdown.
In May, nonfarm payrolls increased by 139,000—a slight dip from April’s downwardly revised 147,000, but above economist forecasts of 130,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, while wage growth beat expectations, signaling a potential boost to consumer spending.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9% nearing the 6,000 mark, its highest level since Feb. 24. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1% to over 21,720, putting tech stocks within striking distance—just 2 percentage points—of record highs.
In equities, Tesla Inc. TSLA rebounded 5.6%, partially recovering from Thursday’s 14% plunge triggered by a high-profile clash between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. Cooler rhetoric on Friday helped sentiment, after the White House said no call between Trump and Musk was currently planned.
Stronger-than-expected economic data also lifted the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields, with the 10-year yield climbing 10 basis points to 4.5%.
Gold dropped 0.9% to $3,321, heading for its worst session of the week. In contrast, crude oil rallied 2.5% to nearly $65 a barrel—its highest since early April—on signs of easing geopolitical risk as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to meet, calming market fears of a renewed tariff war that could dent global energy demand.
Bitcoin BTC/USD advanced 3.4% to $105,000, nearly erasing Thursday’s decline.
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Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | Chg (%) |
| Russell 2000 | 2,126.31 | 1.4% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 21,727.92 | 1.0% |
| S&P 500 | 5,993.56 | 0.9% |
| Dow Jones | 42,648.75 | 0.8% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.8% to $597.90.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.8% to $427.22.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.9% to $529.17.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rallied 1.4% to $211.34.
- The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE outperformed, up 2%; the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV lagged, down 0.1%.
Friday’s Stock Movers
- Broadcom Inc. AVGO fell 4% despite slightly beating the Street’s estimates on both sales and earnings last quarter.
- Lululemon Athletica Inc. LULU tumbled 20% as strong first-quarter results were overshadowed by a lowered full-year profit outlook, driven by rising tariff costs and increased markdowns.
- Other stocks reacting to earnings included DocuSign, Inc. DOCU down 18.4%, Vail Resorts, Inc. MTN down 3.7%, Samsara Inc. IOT, down 4.9% and ABM Industries Incorporated ABM down 14.5%.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
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