Wall Street skyrocketed on Friday after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an explosive job increase in May, crushing market participants expectations of more losses. U.S. employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, which was the largest monthly gain on record, making the unemployment rate 13.3%. Although in normal times an unemployment rate of 13.3% would not signal a healthy economy, consensus economists had estimated May's unemployment rate to climb to about 20%.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 2.5 million in May, reflecting a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it."
All three major stock market indices rallied throughout Friday's session, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq surging to a new intraday high and settling just under a fresh all-time high. For the week, the Dow lead gains at 6.8%, S&P 500 climbed 4.7%, and the Nasdaq rose 3.4%.
"Now we're opening, and we're opening with a bang," President Donald Trump stated during a Friday morning press conference on the jobs report. "And we're been talking about the V [V-shaped economic recovery]. This is better than a V--this is a rocket ship. This is far better than a V."
Here's how the market settled for the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +2.62% or +81.58 points to 3,193.93
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +3.15% or +829.16 points to 27,110.98
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +2.06% or +198.27 point sto 9,814.08
In Major Stock News, Slack Technologies (NYSE: WORK) fell due to the company's user growth remaining steady last quarter despite a surge in people working for home. Big banks stocks-- Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)--soared on the back on economic recovery. Airline stocks--American (NASDAQ: AAL), Delta (NYSE: DAL), Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and United (NASDAQ: UAL)--continued their rally. Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) also soared again during Friday's session, settling over 15% for the day and about 54% for the week.
In stock sector news, sectors skyrocketed following the May's explosive jobs report. The performance gains were as follows: Energy +7.46%, Financials +3.87%, Industrials +3.71%, Real Estate +3.60%, Information Technology +2.69%, Materials +2.50%, Consumer Discretionary +2.13%, Communication Services +1.68%, Health Care +1.66%, Consumer Staples +1.45% and Utilities +1.36%.
In Commodity and Currency News, U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) advanced over 4% to settle just below $39 per barrel. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) also rose, settling around $41 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) futures fell over 2%, dropping the yellow metals price down to $1,689 per ounce. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) bought back some strength, with the DXY Index climbing close to 0.30%.
As the market moves into Monday, investors will continue to bet on reopening sentiment. The Census Bureau's quarterly financial report is also slated for Monday.