Stocks Opened Higher after Solid Jobs Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday after government data showed the economy added 222,000 jobs last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 40.96 points, or 0.19%, to 21,361.00. The S&P 500 was up 5.12 points, or 0.21%, to 2,414.87. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 28.28 points, or 0.46%, to 6,117.75.

Oil futures were knocked down Friday, following a volatile session that saw prices spike due to sizable declines in U.S. oil and gas inventories. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August stumbled $1.20, or 2.6%, to $44.32 a barrel. September Brent dropped $1.18, or 2.5%, to $46.93 a barrel.

The U.S. added 222,000 jobs in June, more than expected, while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4%. The uptick in the unemployment rate comes as the labor force participation rate also rose slightly, to 62.8% from 62.7% in May.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying the Texas power transmitter Oncor for $9 billion, one of his biggest acquisitions. Oncor serves about 10 million people and is the biggest regulated utility in Texas.