U.S. stocks are bouncing back Friday morning after the government said hiring grew at a stronger pace in June. Technology companies are making some of the biggest gains while energy companies decline with oil prices. A day earlier, stocks took their biggest loss since mid-May following a disappointing measure of hiring by private companies.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,418 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 58 points, or 0.3 percent, to 21,378. The Nasdaq composite rose 43 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,132. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,406.
U.S. JOBS: American companies added 222,000 jobs in June, more than analysts had expected, and more people looked for work. The government also raised its estimates of job gains in April and May. Average wage growth, however, remained modest. Stocks dropped Thursday after ADP, a payroll processor, released a survey that showed sluggish hiring by private businesses.
Investors have been worried that rising interest rates in the U.S., and possibly in Europe, will affect economic growth and the end of stimulus measures by the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank could affect stocks, as they have helped support stock markets since the financial crisis in 2008-09.
TECH: Technology companies helped lead stocks higher in Friday trading. Facebook added $1.97, or 1.3 percent, to $150.79 and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, rose $10.44, or 1.1 percent, to $938.13.
Friday marks one month since technology stocks went into a swoon. The Nasdaq composite closed at an all-time high June 8 and the S&P 500 technology index reached its highest mark in 17 years. But since then the tech index is down 4.3 percent since then and the Nasdaq has fallen 3.1 percent. Apple has lost 7 percent in that time, while Texas Instruments and Nvidia have dropped 8 percent each. Tech is still up 16.8 percent this year, the biggest gain of the 11 industries in the S&P 500.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost $1.17, or 2.6 percent, to $44.35 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell $1.26, or 2.6 percent, to $46.85 per barrel in London. Analysts said investors are focused on the strong increase in U.S. production in Thursday’s energy supply report. Hess fell $1.39, or 3.2 percent, to $41.44 and Devon Energy gave up 84 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $29.34.
SYNCHING UP? Mobile services company Synchronoss Technologies climbed after it said it will review its options, which could include a sale of the company. Siris Capital Group offered to buy the company in late June for $18 a share. The stock climbed 80 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $16.67.
ENDO OF AN ERA: Drugmaker Endo International said it will take its pain drug Opana ER off the market. In June the Food and Drug Administration asked Endo to stop selling the opioid pain medication because of concerns it’s being abused by too many people. It’s the first time the FDA moved to stop the sale of an opioid pain treatment because of abuse. While Opana wasn’t a big seller for Endo, its stock is down 20 percent since then. That includes a slip of 13 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $11.04 Friday.
BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.39 percent from 2.37 percent.
OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX was down 0.2 percent and the FTSE 100 of Britain rose 0.1 percent. The French CAC 40 lost 0.4 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.3 percent and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.5 percent.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.88 yen from 113.26 yen. The euro fell to $1.1396 from $1.1423.
