Wall Street opens higher following better than expected jobs data

Markets in New York started Friday’s session in the green after the latest non-farm payrolls data came in ahead of market expectations. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.11% at 34,673 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.23% to 4,329 and the Nasdaq rose 0.42% to 14,583. The opening rise followed data for June that showed an 850,000 rise in non-farm payrolls during the month, more jobs than the average economist estimate, however the unemployment rate rose to 5.9% compared to an expected fall to 5.7%. Average hourly earnings printed +0.3%, which was as predicted, slowing from +0.5% last month. The stronger NFP number may be a sign that some of the temporary labour shortages holding back the employment recovery are starting to ease, said Capital Economics. "But with the labour force rising by just 151,000 and still more than three million below its pre-pandemic peak, we aren’t entirely convinced that this is the start of a much stronger trend." Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at ThinkMarkets, said: "Today’s jobs report was overall stronger but not strong enough to raise inflation and tightening concerns. It keeps the goldilocks scenario intact for stocks and encourages dollar longs to ease off the gas ahead of the long weekend break." 8:00am: Wall Street to make mixed start  The main indices on Wall Street are expected to make a mixed start on Friday morning as traders anxiously await the latest batch of non-farm payrolls data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open flat, while the Nasdaq is expected to move higher with the S&P 500 seen making modest gains at the opening bell. Markets are firmly focused on the US jobs picture today, says IG's market analyst Chris Beauchamp, with the NFP data expected to bring greater clarity over the economic recovery. “With the Federal Reserve looking out for improved economic data and rising inflation as a gauge of when to tighten policy, continued improvements to the jobs picture are going to provide a key element of FOMC thinking. “However, while markets are looking for a healthy 700k payrolls figure, a declining ADP payrolls figure (albeit less than expected), and weakening employment elements from both the services and ISM manufacturing PMI do raise questions around whether this figure will be hit.” He said the mood in European markets was cautiously optimistic. “The dollar has remained one of the big performers over the course of the week, with Andrew Bailey doing little to reverse the view that the BoE and Fed are taking an increasingly divergent view on inflation. Bailey reiterated that the Bank of England remains steadfast in their belief that above-target inflation will ultimately subside without intervention, something the Fed are increasingly losing faith in. With the dollar reaching a three-month high, we are seeing increased confidence that the greenback can outperform despite the common perception that it should lag at times of economic outperformance.” Four things to watch for on Friday: The earnings diary is a little sparse on Friday, however, there will be numbers from Alkaline Water Company Inc (NASDAQ:WTER) Shares in Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW) will be in focus after the financial services group disclosed an SEC investigation into its digital advisory business and said it expects to book a US$200mln charge in its second quarter Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) will also draw attention after founder Richard Branson said the firm’s first rocket powered flight into space carrying a full crew of two pilots and four passengers, including himself, on July 11, just over a week ahead of the planned spaceflight by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos On the macro front, aside from the non-farm payrolls there may also be interest in the latest US trade data as well as average hourly earnings numbers