US stock futures jumped on Friday as a solid jobs report and possible thawing in US-China trade tensions boosted spirits after earnings from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) shed light on the likely cost of tariffs.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) moved up 1.2%, eyeing a ninth straight day of gains for the blue-chip index. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) added 1.3%, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) moved up 1.2%.
The monthly US jobs report came in better than expected, indicating labor resiliency despite a stock market shock following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariff announcements. The US economy added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls in April, more than the 138,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.
As of 9:06:21 GMT-4. Market open.
ES=F YM=F NQ=F
Meanwhile, Beijing is evaluating US officials’ recent overtures on trade talks to assess how serious his administration is about a shift in policy stance, China’s commerce ministry said on Friday. It said the “door is open” if the US agrees to pull back on reciprocal tariffs, paving the way to starting formal negotiations.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
The comments helped ease worries about the risk of economic slowdown from Trump’s trade offensive. Stock futures reversed course after dropping in the wake of Apple and Amazon results, which stoked those tariff concerns.
Apple warned of a $900 million tariff headwind this quarter and cut its share buyback program by $10 billion, sending its stock lower in pre-market trading despite its quarterly earnings beat. Meanwhile, Amazon shares also lost ground, its own earnings beat outweighed by disappointing guidance that pointed to tariff and trade policy as factors.
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