News

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes ticked up in choppy trading, boosted by a jump in energy stocks, while investors assessed a key jobs report and awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the health of the U.S. economy.

At 09:51 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 124.23 points, or 0.29%, to 42,703.31, the S&P 500 gained 24.38 points, or 0.46%, to 5,764.57 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 120.10 points, or 0.66%, to 18,186.29.

Energy led sectoral gains on the S&P 500 with a 1.8% rise, tracking a 2% increase in oil prices.

Nasdaq component Broadcom rose 7% after the chipmaker assuaged investor worries about artificial intelligence infrastructure demand with a strong second-quarter forecast. Technology stocks added 1.3%, while the broader chip index added 1.9%.

On the other hand, rate-sensitive banks dipped 0.5%, with Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase down 1% each.

A Labor Department report showed job growth picked up in February from the previous month. However, the growth missed economists' expectations, adding to worries about the economy's resilience.

"This is not an overly weak report and it's not overly strong," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

"It is within the average job creations over the past several months and that suggests that the economy is still somewhat resilient, although challenges persist."

Following the data, traders added to expectations that the central bank will lower borrowing costs for the first time in June, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 12:30 p.m. ET will now be in focus to get more clarity on the central bank's policy. His colleagues, including John Williams, Michelle Bowman and Adriana Kugler, are also slated to speak later in the day.

Equities witnessed their most volatile week this year, with Wall Street's fear gauge trading near levels not seen since mid-December, as traders tried to assess President Donald Trump's fluctuating trade policy.

In the previous session, the Nasdaq confirmed a 10% drop from its December all-time high, while the benchmark S&P 500 appeared to have reversed most of its gains since Trump's election victory.

The indexes, along with the blue-chip Dow are on track for their biggest weekly drop since September. Equity funds witnessed the largest weekly outflow in four weeks in the week ended on March 5.

Trump on Thursday offered a four-week reprieve on tariffs he imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under a free-trade pact, but the U.S. is still in a trade war with China. Additionally, reciprocal trade barriers and other duties are expected to take effect in the following weeks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise slumped 15%, after saying its annual profit forecast would be hit by U.S. tariffs.

Costco fell 5.9% after the retailer missed Street estimates on quarterly earnings as merchandise costs increased.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.98-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.57-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded nine new highs and 60 new lows.