US stocks ended on positive note

The US markets ended firmly in positive territory on Friday. Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 144.77 points (0.8%) to 18,239.92 after moving sharply lower over two previous sessions. The Dow also climbed 288.73 points (0.7%) to 42,052.19 while the S&P 500 rose 23.35 points (0.4%) to 5,728.80. The Dow dipped by 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slumped by 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively for the week.

Intel, the semiconductor giant soared by 7.8%, Amazon spiked by 6.2% whereas Apple moved downwards post their results being released.
Labor Department's report showed much weaker than expected job growth in the month of October. Non-farm payroll employment crept up by 12,000 jobs in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 223,000 jobs in September.

The employment was expected to climb by 113,000 jobs compared to the surge of 254,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The unemployment rate was at 4.1% in October.

Retail stocks moved sharply higher on the heels of the upbeat results from Amazon, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 2.6% to a record closing high. Biotechnology stocks showed considerable strength as reflected by the 2.2% jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Airline, networking & computer hardware stocks also saw significant strength, while notable weakness emerged among utilities and natural gas stocks.

Asia Pacific stocks moved mostly lower on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 2.6% & China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2% although Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bucked the downtrend and jumped by 0.9%. The major European markets moved upwards. German DAX Index advanced by 0.9%, U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.8%.

In the bond market, treasuries pulled back sharply after initially rallying in reaction to the monthly jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 7.7 basis points to a nearly four-month closing high of 4.36% after hitting a low of 4.22%.

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