NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose across the board as a weaker-than-expected September jobs report eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would raise its benchmark interest rate in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,176.96 on the 2nd, up 250.40 points, or 0.49%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 56.27 points, or 0.73%, to 7,722.72, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 319.27 points, or 1.19%, to 27,190.86. The Nasdaq climbed as high as 27,353.68 during the session, setting a record intraday high.
Among the largest companies by market value, Nvidia rose 1.34%, Apple 1.02%, Microsoft 0.92%, Amazon 1.33%, TSMC 2.96%, Google parent Alphabet 1.56%, SpaceX 7.35%, Facebook parent Meta 0.30%, Broadcom 3.35%, Tesla 4.65% and SK hynix 0.84%. Micron fell 2.05% and SanDisk dropped 3.79%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced 2.40%.
Stocks were higher from the open as the soft September nonfarm payrolls report fueled expectations that the Federal Open Market Committee will leave rates unchanged at its meeting on the 27th and 28th of this month. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 29,000 from August, the Labor Department said. That was more than 100,000 below the revised August gain of 133,000 and well short of market forecasts of 90,000.
The federal funds futures market raised the probability that the Fed will hold rates at this month's FOMC meeting to 77.9% from 75.6% a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The odds of a 0.25 percentage point increase fell to 22.1% from 24.4%.
A decline in oil prices after the Group of Seven said it would release emergency reserves also supported equities. Brent crude futures for December delivery settled at $102.25 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London, down 0.06% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate futures for November delivery closed at $91.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.90%.
The G7 said it had agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from reserves over the next four months. "To stabilize global energy markets, we have agreed to jointly release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil through the International Energy Agency," the group said in a joint statement. The move followed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to ban diesel exports unless Europe tapped its strategic reserves to stabilize diesel prices.
Losses in oil were limited, however, by reports that Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Reuters reported that as many as 100,000 Yemeni government troops under Saudi supervision would be mobilized to attack the Houthis, who control territory near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a key chokepoint linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
