Friday Wrap: Dow up by over 500 Points; Treasury yields continue rising amidst strong job reports

What was shaping up to be another potential setback for the technology sector and the rest of the stock market turned on Friday into a roaring rebound into the weekend followed by the market buzz that Robinhood has selected  Nasdaq as the exchange for its public debut this year.

On Friday, the Labor Department reported that February nonfarm payrolls improved by 379,000 – robustly better than estimates for 200,000 jobs – and that unemployment had ticked lower, from 6.3% to 6.2%.

The major indexes initially opened higher after this stronger-than-expected employment report.

In a wild session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average swung to a 500-point gain Friday afternoon, after falling as much as 157 points.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 0.9%. The Nasdaq composite advanced 1.5%. The S&P 500 held a gain of 1.8% while the Dow Jones posted a 1.7% increase. Volume was tracking higher on the Nasdaq and lower on the NYSE compared with the same time on Thursday.

Stocks sold off hard on  Thursday after Fed chief Jerome Powell didn’t give the market what it wanted. He said the central bank remains highly accommodative and didn’t hint at a new “twist” in the policy. That sent the 10-year Treasury yield up to 1.55%.

The Dow Jones held a solid gain as many blue chips traded higher. Stocks leading on the upside included Cisco, Intel, Oracle, and Chevron.

Cisco rallied over 4% in heavy volume, regaining the 50-day moving average after the stock slipped below this level in recent days. Oracle was up by 7 % and so was Intel which gained over 4%.

Chevron rose nearly 4% in rising volume, on pace to notch a five-day win streak. Retailer GAP’s stock jumped more than 6% after the company said it’s predicting a bounce back to sales growth in 2021 as more consumers return to stores.

Boeing was down 2% in twice normal trade. The jet maker’s stock briefly cleared a 229.71 buy point of a cup with handle earlier this week. It’s now about 5% below the entry.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen played down any concern that the recent surge in U.S. government bond yields reflects expectations for an outsized breakout in inflation.

“I don’t see that the markets are expecting inflation to rise above the Federal Reserve’s 2% objective, Long-term interest rates have gone up some — but mainly, I think, because market participants are seeing a stronger recovery,” Yellen said on  Friday.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries stabilized Friday after spiking earlier to the highest in more than a year in the wake of a stronger-than-anticipated February employment report.

“Although 379,000 jobs sound like a lot, at that pace it would take us more than two years to get to full employment,” Yellen said. The “real” unemployment rate, after factoring in 4 million who dropped out of the labor force after losing their jobs, was more like 10%, she added.