Stocks Jumped at Open after June jobs Data

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Thursday, after the report on the labor market showed that the U.S. added 4.76 million jobs in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 399.37 points, or 1.55%, to 26,134.34. The S&P 500 added 41.01 points, or 1.32%, to 3,156.87. The Nasdaq Composite gained 124.97 points, or 1.23%, to 10,279.60.

Crude-oil prices headed higher Thursday for a second session, as values continued to garner support from a bullish report on U.S. stockpiles this week. West Texas Intermediate crude for August rose 25 cents, or 0.8%, at $40.11 a barrel. Brent oil for September picked up 31 cents, or 0.7%, at $42.34 a barrel.

The U.S. economy regained millions more jobs in June from May, as regions across the country eased social distancing restrictions and allowed more businesses to reopen. The U.S. added 4.8 million jobs in June compared to expections for a rise of 3.7 million and the unemployment rate fell for the second straight month to 11.1%.

New applications for traditional jobless benefits continued to slow, falling to 14.3 million in the seven days ended June 27 from 1.48 million in the prior week. The number of people receiving traditional jobless benefits rose 59,000 in the week ended June 20 to 19.29 million.