Stocks Jumped at Open after Strong Jobs Report

U.S. stocks opened firmly higher on Friday, after a key reading of April employment pointed to ongoing strength in the U.S. labor market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 135.59 points, or 0.52%, to 26,443.38. The S&P 500 climbed 15.32 points, or 0.53%, to 2,932.84. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 48.89 points, or 0.61%, to 8,085.66.

Oil prices drifted near the unchanged mark on Friday as expectations for tighter supplies diminished. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was little changed, up less than 0.1%, at $61.93 a barrel. July Brent crude fell 16 cents, 0.2%, to $70.59 a barrel.

The economy added 263,000 non-farm payrolls for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. This topped expectations for 190,000 new positions, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% for the month, the lowest level since December 1969.