The US economy added 531,000 jobs last month and job gains in the prior two months were higher than originally reported, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent, according to government data.
AFP
November 05, 2021 / 07:40 PM IST
Wall Street stocks jumped early Friday, lifting markets to fresh records following a strong US jobs report and a Pfizer announcement about a promising COVID-19 treatment.
The US economy added 531,000 jobs last month and job gains in the prior two months were higher than originally reported, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent, according to government data.
The better-than-expected result indicated hiring is resurging as COVID-19 infections decline.
Meanwhile, Pfizer announced that a clinical trial of its pill to treat COVID-19 showed an 89 percent reduction in risk of hospitalization or death among adult patients at high risk of progressing to severe illness.
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla described the announcement as “a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic.”
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 percent to 36,400.90.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 4,714.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 16,034.89, adding to the all-time highs set at the close Thursday.
Among individual companies, Pfizer surged 8.3 percent, while the news weighed on Merck, which unveiled its own therapeutic in October, and Moderna, the maker of a leading coronavirus vaccine.
Merck fell 9.7 percent and Moderna 19.1 percent.
Peloton Interactive slumped 33.8 percent on disappointment over the company’s forecasts that exacerbated worries shifting consumer patterns will dent growth in at-home fitness as more people get vaccinated for COVID-19.
