Stocks were slightly higher on Friday as investors kicked off the second quarter on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 100 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite both were up about 0.3%.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Amazon workers in Staten Island vote for company's first unionized warehouse in U.S.:
Employees at Amazon's
The tally was 2,654 votes in favor of joining the union and 2,131 opposed. There were 67 challenged ballots, a gap too narrow to change the outcome of the election, but the results still need to be formally certified by the National Labor Relations Board.
"We're disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees," an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. "We're evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and other (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election."
JPMorgan drops Apple, Qualcomm from top picks list:
JPMorgan
"There has been understandably a lot of noise around demand weakness across global tech, but we believe the marco weakness seeping through the sector will impact the consumer end-markets more materially," JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said Friday.
Still, the brokerage rates both Apple and Qualcomm at "overweight"--its equivalent of a "buy" rating--based on their long-term growth potential.
House Oversight Committee launches probe into Amazon's labor practices:
The House Oversight Committee on Friday launched an investigation into Amazon's
In a letter addressed to CEO Andy Jassy, Oversight's chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush, wrote that they are "concerned by recent reports that Amazon may be putting the health and safety of its workers at risk, including by requiring them to work in dangerous conditions during tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather."
U.S. added 431,000 jobs in March:
The U.S. economy added slightly fewer jobs than expected in March but still market a fifteenth consecutive month of expansion.
Non-farm payrolls added 431,000 jobs in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, adding to February's upwardly revised print of 750,000. However, consensus economists had expected filled positions to rise by 490,000 last month.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 3.6% in March, versus the 3.7% expected and the 3.8% rate recorded in February.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.28% or +12.54 points to 4,542.95
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.22% or +74.62 points to 34,752.97
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.50% or +70.78 points to 14,291.30
