Investing.com -- After edging higher at the start of Friday's session, U.S. stocks are now mixed as investors digested the highly influential monthly official jobs report, which pointed to underlying economic strength.
By 13:00 ET (18:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 65 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 traded up 2 points, or 0.05% and NASDAQ Composite climbed 21 points or 0.2%.
The main equity indices have suffered a disappointing start to the year, giving back some of the strong rally seen at the end of 2023 and remain on course to break nine-week winning streaks.
Nonfarm payrolls loom large
This weakness has occurred as investors repriced the likelihood of Federal Reserve rate cuts early in the new year following signs of economic resilience, particularly in the important labor market.
The monthly jobs report, released earlier Friday, showed that U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in December, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 216,000 jobs last month. That said, data for November was revised lower to show payrolls rising 173,000 instead of 199,000.
This followed data earlier this week showed hiring by private employers in December far outpaced expectations and job openings fell to an almost three-year low.
These strong numbers resulted in traders cutting the chances of a Fed rate cut in March, but also indicated that the underlying economy remained fairly healthy despite the series of rate hikes to tame inflation.
Tesla recalling vehicles in Chinese
In the corporate sector, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock fell just under 1% after the EV manufacturer undertook an effective recall on 1.62 million vehicles in China, including its models S, X, 3 and Y, the market regulator said on Friday. This follows recalls by the automaker in the United States in December. Tesla shares have managed to claw back some of their initial losses and sit 0.2% lower at 13:00 ET (18:00 GMT).
Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) stock rose more than 2%, helped by strong results from the company's beer business, which includes Corona Premier and Modelo Especial.
Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) stock rose 8.5% after the fitness equipment maker announced it will bring its workout content to short-form video platform TikTok in an exclusive partnership.
Crude on course for weekly gains
Oil prices rose sharply Friday, helped by signs of U.S. economic strength as well as continued unrest in the Middle East and the potential for supply disruptions.
By 18:05 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 1.9% higher at $73.59 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 1.3% to $78.60 a barrel.
Both benchmarks are on course to end the first week of the year around 2% higher amid ongoing concerns over Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis targeting shipping in the Red Sea.
However, gains have been limited by data showing a massive build in U.S. oil product inventories in the final week of 2023. The reading indicated that demand remained weak in the world’s largest fuel consumer.
Additionally, gold futures traded down 0.1% at $2,048.85/oz, while EUR/USD traded flat at 1.0942.
(Oliver Gray contributed to this article.)