Wall Street rises on energy boost; jobs data, Powell in focus

NEW YORK: Main indexes of Wall Street ticked up in choppy trading, boosted by a jump in energy stocks, while investors assessed a key jobs report and awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the health of the US economy.

At 09:51 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 124.23 points, or 0.29%, to 42,703.31, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 24.38 points, or 0.46%, to 5,764.57 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 120.10 points, or 0.66%, to 18,186.29.

Energy .SPNY led sectoral gains on the S&P 500 with a 1.8% rise, tracking a 2% increase in oil prices.

Nasdaq component Broadcom AVGO.O rose 7% after the chipmaker assuaged investor worries about artificial intelligence infrastructure demand with a strong second-quarter forecast. Technology stocks .SPLRCT added 1.3%, while the broader chip index .SOX added 1.9%.

On the other hand, rate-sensitive banks .SPXBK dipped 0.5%, with Citigroup C.N and JP Morgan Chase JPM.N down 1% each.

A Labor Department report showed job growth picked up in February from the previous month. However, the growth missed economists’ expectations, adding to worries about the economy’s resilience.

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“This is not an overly weak report and it’s not overly strong,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

“It is within the average job creations over the past several months and that suggests that the economy is still somewhat resilient, although challenges persist.”

Following the data, traders added to expectations that the central bank will lower borrowing costs for the first time in June, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 12:30 PM ET will now be in focus to get more clarity on the central bank’s policy. His colleagues, including John Williams, Michelle Bowman and Adriana Kugler, are also slated to speak later in the day.

Equities witnessed their most volatile week this year, with Wall Street’s fear gauge .VIX trading near levels not seen since mid-December, as traders tried to assess President Donald Trump’s fluctuating trade policy.

In the previous Wall Street session, the Nasdaq confirmed a 10% drop from its December all-time high, while the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX appeared to have reversed most of its gains since Trump’s election victory.

The indexes, along with the blue-chip Dow .DJI are on track for their biggest weekly drop since September. Equity funds witnessed the largest weekly outflow in four weeks in the week ended on March 5.

Trump on Thursday offered a four-week reprieve on tariffs he imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under a free-trade pact, but the US is still in a trade war with China. Additionally, reciprocal trade barriers and other duties are expected to take effect in the following weeks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N slumped 15%, after saying its annual profit forecast would be hit by US tariffs.

Costco COST.O fell 5.9% after the retailer missed Wall Street estimates on quarterly earnings as merchandise costs increased.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.98-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.57-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded nine new highs and 60 new lows.