Dow pops 572 points as financials, energy lead, oil hits $66 per barrel

10-year yield spikes to 1.63%, its highest level in a year

U.S. equity markets charged higher gathering momentum in the final hour of trading. Investors celebrated the better-than-expected February jobs report while shrugging off an early spike in bond yields.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 39760.08 +477.75 +1.22%
SP500 S&P 500 5248.49 +44.91 +0.86%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 16399.520634 +83.82 +0.51%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 570 points, or 1.85%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.95% and 1.55%, respectively.

U.S. ECONOMY ADDS ROBUST 379,000 NEW JOBS

The U.S. economy added 379,000 jobs in February as the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.2%, according to the Labor Department. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv were anticipating the addition of 182,000 jobs as the unemployment rate to hold steady at 6.3%.

The strong report caused the 10-year yield to climbed to 1.63%, its highest level in a year, before ending little changed near 1.55%.

Friday's rally comes a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would remain patient if inflation were to return. That caused bond yields to rise, leading to selling in equities, especially growth stocks, pushing the Nasdaq Composite to the brink of a correction, or down at least 10% from its recent peak.

In stocks, energy led the S&P's gains as West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed $2.26 to $66.09 per barrel.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
XLE ENERGY SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF 93.41 +0.88 +0.95%
CVX CHEVRON CORP. 156.35 +1.08 +0.70%
NLBX n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

In related news, Chevron Corp. agreed to buy the remaining shares of Noble Midstream Partners LP that it does not already own in a deal that values the pipeline operator at $1.32 billion. Noble Midstream shareholders will receive 0.1393 Chevron shares for each Noble Midstream unit they own.

Elsewhere, technology names sensitive to a continued rise in bond yields saw some relief.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
QQQ INVESCO QQQ NASDAQ 100 444.83 +1.51 +0.34%
MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 421.43 -0.22 -0.05%
AAPL APPLE INC. 173.31 +3.60 +2.12%
AMZN AMAZON.COM INC. 179.83 +1.53 +0.86%

In earnings, Costco. Co. reported stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue as online sales soared 76% year over year as the shop-from-home trend continued amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Earnings, meanwhile, fell short of estimates as costs rose as a result of wage increases for frontline workers.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
COST COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. 732.08 +1.10 +0.15%

Gap Inc. forecast sales will normalize to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of the year as people return to the office. The retailer sees sales increasing by a mid- to high-teens percentage compared with 2020.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GPS GAP INC. 27.28 -0.44 -1.59%

Elsewhere, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya sold his entire personal stake in the company for $213 million. Palihapitiya and his partner Ian Osborne still own a 6.5% stake through the investment firm Social Capital Hedosophia.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SPCE VIRGIN GALACTIC HOLDINGS INC. 1.46 +0.07 +5.04%

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. announced plans for a 47.58 million share offering. The cruise line operator plans to use the proceeds to retire debt.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
NCLH NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE HOLDINGS LTD. 21.35 +1.19 +5.90%

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Overseas markets were lower across the board.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.97% while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.82% and Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.31%.

Asian markets all lost ground with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sliding 0.47%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.23% and China’s Shanghai Composite slipping 0.04%.