US job growth surges in Sept; unemployment rate falls to 4.1%
Spirit Airlines tanks after report of bankruptcy filing
Energy sector set for biggest weekly jump in two years
Indexes up: Dow 0.3%, S&P 500 0.4%, Nasdaq 0.7%
(Updates to 2:20 p.m. ET/1820 GMT)
NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) –
The major U.S. stock indexes were higher on Friday afternoon as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report reassured investors who had worried the economy may be getting too weak.
in September by the most in six months, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the report showed.
Traders further reduced bets on a 50-basis-point reduction at the Federal Reserve’s Nov. 6-7 meeting. Traders are now pricing in just an 8% chance of a 50-bps rate cut, down from around 31% earlier on Friday, the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed.
The data “basically tells us economic activity in the fourth quarter is likely to remain at a solid pace,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“It’s a good surprise, but I also think it may now slow the pace of rate cuts.”
The Fed kicked off a monetary easing cycle last month by cutting rates 50 bps.
Small caps were outperforming, with the Russell 2000 index up 1.1%, and the S&P 500 financials index also was up 1.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.68 points, or 0.32%, to 42,145.27, the S&P 500 gained 24.02 points, or 0.42%, to 5,723.96 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 126.26 points, or 0.70%, to…
