A solid April jobs report helped ease recession worries and sent stocks higher out of the gate Friday. A mixed batch of Big Tech earnings couldn't keep bulls sidelined, with the main indexes rallying into the close.
Ahead of open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 177,000 in April. This was lower than March's downwardly revised 185,000 figure but more than the 133,000 new jobs economists expected.
The unemployment rate, which is calculated from a separate survey, remained at 4.2%.
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The strength of the labor market is one of the factors that the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) uses to determine if the U.S. is in a recession, and Joe Gaffoglio, CEO and president at Mutual Of America Capital Management, says the April jobs report underscores a resilient economy.
Still, Gaffoglio warns that "cracks have been forming. Job openings continue to decline, and steady quit rates suggest workers are growing less confident about jumping to new roles."
He notes that the ongoing job market momentum will be closely watched going forward, "given the more cautious stance by both companies and workers."
And "despite growing economic headwinds, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled he was in no rush to cut rates, with inflation above the Fed's target and a labor market that's holding firm, at least for now."
Indeed, today's data did little to change near-unanimous expectations that the Fed will hold interest rates steady when its next meeting concludes on Wednesday afternoon.
However, the chance for a June rate cut fell to 34% today from 55% on Thursday, while the odds of one happening in July jumped to 55% from 44%, according to CME FedWatch.
Apple warns of a $900 million tariff hit
The earnings calendar gave market participants plenty to talk about, too. Apple (AAPL) was one of the more noteworthy names reporting, with the iPhone maker beating on the top and bottom lines for its fiscal Q2.
However, AAPL sank 3.7% – making it the worst Dow Jones stock Friday – after the company warned that President Donald Trump's tariffs, at current levels, could boost costs by $900 million in its June quarter. Apple CEO Tim Cook added that this figure could increase in the coming quarters.
Apple, which has heavy exposure to China, has said it will begin to ship most of its devices from India and Vietnam, where tariffs are lower.
"We think AAPL will do its best to mitigate future tariffs and see rising costs from tariffs ultimately pushed to the consumer through higher prices," says CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino (Buy).
While Zino sees Apple's lack of Services guidance as a negative, its aggressive stock buybacks – the board approved another $100 billion for share repurchases – the potential launch of foldable devices in 2026, and easing U.S.-China trade tensions as positives.
Amazon warns of tariff uncertainty
Earnings from e-commerce and cloud giant Amazon.com (AMZN, -0.1%) were also in focus. The company reported first-quarter earnings that were higher than expected, but gave soft guidance for Q2 operating income.
Amazon warned that its results are "inherently unpredictable" and may be impacted by several factors, including "tariff and trade policies" and "recessionary fears."
"It's hard to tell what's going to happen with tariffs right now," said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on the company's earnings call. "It's hard to tell where they're going to settle and when they're going to settle."
Earlier this week, the company quickly shut down media reports that it would list tariff charges on some of its Amazon Haul products after pressure from the White House.
In other Amazon news, founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos disclosed plans to sell 25 million AMZN shares over the next 12 months, worth roughly $4.8 billion as of today's close.
Bezos is one of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of $212 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The S&P 500's longest win streak in 20 years
As for the main indexes, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.5% to 17,977, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% to 41,317 for its ninth straight advance.
The S&P 500 also closed higher for a ninth straight day, up 1.5% to 5,686, to mark its longest winning streak since November 2004, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
This milestone is particularly impressive considering the S&P 500 was down more than 15% for the year to date in mid-April. It has since pared this deficit to just 3.3%.
The rebound occurred "as progress on tariff talks helped calm investor fears," says Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, and was helped by steady retail buying and institutional investors coming off the sidelines.
"Investors' positive response to earnings suggests expectations were appropriately reset, but with emotions still elevated, volatility is likely to remain," Hackett adds.
And there are plenty of potential market-moving events on next week's lineup. In addition to the May Fed meeting, the earnings calendar is jam-packed. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and media and entertainment giant Walt Disney (DIS) are among the many companies to report.
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