U.S. Stocks Surge | Non-Farm Jobs Beat Expectations, Nasdaq Up 1.22%

**All three major stock indices rose across the board, with technology stocks leading the gains, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.22%.**

**Non-farm employment data far exceeded expectations, and expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate cut next month were lowered.**

**Tensions in the Middle East increased, and international oil prices continued to rise, with a weekly increase of over 8%.**

Benefiting from strong employment data, all three major U.S. stock indices rose on Friday (4th). By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 341.16 points, or 0.81%, to 42,352.75; the Nasdaq Composite rose 219.37 points, or 1.22%, to 18,137.85; the S&P 500 index rose 51.13 points, or 0.90%, to 5,751.07.

Summarizing the week, the performance of the three major indices was satisfactory, with intraday gains just making up for the recent declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09% for the week, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.10%, and the S&P 500 index rose 0.22%.

Leading technology stocks were mainly up. Tesla closed up 3.91%, Amazon rose 2.50%, Meta rose 2.26%, Netflix rose 1.83%, Nvidia rose 1.68%, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, rose 0.72%, Apple rose 0.50%, and Microsoft fell 0.12%.

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Most Chinese concept stocks rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closing up 3.05%. Chant International closed up 387.17%, Tiger Brokers rose 34.82%, Zhihu rose 12.82%, Weibo rose 9.91%, JD.com rose 5.31%, Tencent rose 2.25%, Alibaba rose 1.50%, and Pinduoduo rose 1.08%.

Among the focus stocks, Spirit Airlines, a U.S. low-cost airline, closed down 24.55%. Sources revealed that after the merger with JetBlue Airways failed, the airline has been discussing potential bankruptcy filing terms with bondholders. Over the past few years, the company's stock price has plummeted, with its market value shrinking from nearly $4 billion in 2021 to less than $250 million. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has not been able to achieve annual profitability. Although the tourism industry has recovered from the downturn, Spirit Airlines and other low-cost carriers have been severely impacted, as large airlines have become increasingly competitive in offering low-cost tickets.

Non-farm employment data far exceeded expectations, and the market lowered expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate cut next month.

In terms of economic data, the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that non-farm employment increased by 254,000 in September, higher than the revised 159,000 in August and better than the market's expected 150,000; the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%, a decrease of 0.1%. The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected, and the unemployment rate also declined slightly, indicating a positive employment situation.After the data release, U.S. stocks rose, U.S. bonds fell, and the U.S. dollar strengthened. Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Charles Schwab, said that the latest data indicates that the job market continues to remain healthy, which means that the U.S. economy is in good condition.

By industry, the food and beverage and bar industry added the most jobs in September, with 69,000 positions added, while the average monthly increase over the past year was only 14,000. The healthcare industry is also a leader in job growth, contributing 45,000 jobs, while the government sector added 31,000 jobs. Other industries that saw an increase in jobs include the social work industry (27,000 jobs) and the construction industry (25,000 jobs).

Strong job growth has also largely dispelled market concerns about a slowdown in U.S. economic growth. Previously, the market widely expected the Federal Reserve to announce a 50 basis point rate cut at the next interest rate meeting in November, but now it seems unlikely, given the good performance of the U.S. economy. Interest rate futures show that traders currently estimate the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in November at 90%, up from 68% on Thursday.

Matt Bush, an American economist at Guggenheim Investments, said there is no clear evidence that inflation will rebound, and the Federal Reserve has already begun to cut interest rates, which will further alleviate economic pressure. The basic expectation for the U.S. economy is a soft landing.

As tensions in the Middle East escalate, international oil prices have risen by more than 8% this week. U.S. WTI crude oil futures for the nearest month closed up 0.91% at $74.38 a barrel, up 8.11% for the week; Brent crude oil futures for the nearest month closed up 0.55% at $78.05 a barrel, up 9.10% for the week.

At the beginning of this week, after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, conflicts in the Middle East intensified, and international oil prices soared. With the rise in oil prices, energy stocks also rose this week, with the S&P 500 energy sector up 7%, the best performance for the sector in nearly two years.

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