Investing.com – Wall Street traded higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time intraday high at 2,180.15, as a better-than-expected jobs report heightened optimism over the future path of the U.S. economy.
At 14:46GMT, or 10:46AM ET, the Dow 30 jumped 155 points, or 0.85%, the S&P 500 gained 15 points, or 0.69%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 49 points or 1.04%.
The U.S. economy created a better-than-expected 255,000 jobs in July, while the prior month’s data was revised upwards to 292,000.
Of particular interest for the Federal Reserve (Fed), average hourly earnings rose month-on-month by 0.3%, beating expectations for a 0.2% rise. They were up 2.6% on the year.
Almost all of the data was positive with perhaps the exception of the jobless rate that remained steady at 4.9%, compared to expectations for a drop to 4.8%. However, part of the explanation for the higher jobless rate would be due to the increase in the participation rate.
The data caused financial markets to increase odds for a Fed rate hike, although expectations were still for the U.S. monetary authority to hold off until 2017.
Still, the probability for a rate hike in September jumped to 18%, from the 12% registered prior to the data, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Fed fund futures also increased the odds for an increase in December to 46.5%, compared to 34.4% earlier.
The report also sent the dollar higher. The greenback had been trading with losses prior to the release.
Also on the data front, the U.S. trade deficit hit a 10-month high in June as a stronger dollar weighed on exports while domestic demand and higher oil prices boosted imports.
June consumer credit will be out at 19:00GMT, or 15:00ET.
Amid big moves on earnings, Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) produced profit that blew past consensus, sending shares of the food maker almost 5% higher.
In a similar move, Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:PCLN) soared after gross bookings helped the travel website operator beat earnings estimates.
On the downside, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) tumbled more than 8% after in-line earnings and a worst than expected forecast for the current quarter.
Meanwhile, oil prices moved lower on Friday after crude had registered its largest two-day rally in a month on the back of a huge gasoline inventory draw in data released on Wednesday.
Market players looked ahead to weekly data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes to be released later in the session. Last week, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by three to 374, the fifth straight weekly gain and the eighth increase in nine weeks.
The renewed gain in U.S. drilling activity fueled speculation that domestic production could be on the verge of rebounding in the weeks ahead, underlining worries over a supply glut.
U.S. crude futures fell 1.74% to $41.23 a barrel by 14:47GMT or 10:47AM ET, while Brent oil lost 1.40% to $43.67.