{"id":10684,"date":"2026-10-03T17:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T17:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/?p=10684"},"modified":"2026-10-03T17:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T17:11:36","slug":"stocks-finish-mixed-week-as-weak-jobs-report-eases-rate-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/?p=10684","title":{"rendered":"Stocks Finish Mixed Week as Weak Jobs Report Eases Rate Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

<\/h1>\n

NEW YORK\u2014U.S. stocks ended a volatile week with a strong Friday rally as a weaker-than-expected jobs report eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again this month.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% Friday to 7,722.72, leaving the benchmark less than 1% below its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 51,176.96, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.2% to 27,190.86.<\/p>\n

For the week, the picture was more mixed. The S&P 500 slipped about 0.3% and the Dow fell 1.3%, while the Nasdaq gained roughly 0.5%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies declined about 0.2%.<\/p>\n

Markets spent much of the week wrestling with sharply higher government-bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield briefly reached 5.34%, its highest level since 2002, putting pressure on stocks as investors adjusted to higher borrowing costs and more attractive returns in the bond market.<\/p>\n

That pressure eased Friday after the Labor Department reported that employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, well below expectations, while the unemployment rate increased to 4.2%. Previous months\u2019 job gains were also revised lower.<\/p>\n

The report quickly changed expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Market expectations for another rate increase at the Fed\u2019s October meeting dropped substantially during the week, helping lift rate-sensitive stocks and technology shares.<\/p>\n

Technology remained one of the market\u2019s strongest areas. Nvidia helped lift the major indexes Friday, while Tesla jumped 4.7% after reporting vehicle deliveries that exceeded expectations. Continued spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure has also helped sustain investor interest in technology stocks despite higher interest rates.<\/p>\n

Not every major company participated in the rally. Nike shares dropped 3.6% Friday as investors reacted to weakness in China and concerns about the company\u2019s outlook. Storage companies Western Digital and Seagate also suffered sharp declines during the session.<\/p>\n

Stocks nevertheless remain firmly higher for the year. Through Friday, the Nasdaq was up about 17% in 2026, the Russell 2000 had gained 14.1%, the S&P 500 was ahead 12.8% and the Dow had risen 6.5%.<\/p>\n

Investors now turn toward third-quarter earnings season and the Federal Reserve\u2019s Oct. 27-28 meeting. Corporate profits are expected to show strong year-over-year growth, while Wall Street will be watching closely for signs that heavy spending on artificial intelligence is translating into stronger earnings.<\/p>\n

The combination of elevated Treasury yields, slower hiring and persistent inflation leaves the market entering October with competing forces: expectations for continued corporate earnings growth on one side and uncertainty over interest rates and borrowing costs on the other.<\/p>\n

By: DNU Newswire<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK\u2014U.S. stocks ended a volatile week with a strong Friday rally as a weaker-than-expected jobs report eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again this month. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% Friday to 7,722.72, leaving the benchmark less than 1% below its record high. The Dow ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[578],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10685,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684\/revisions\/10685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}