US STOCKS: Wall Street Poised for Upward Momentum on Jobs Report

Get ready for a positive start to the day on Wall Street! Investors are feeling good as they anticipate the stock market opening higher on Friday. Why? Well, it turns out that the latest jobs report didn't quite meet expectations. This has got people thinking that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates soon. Plus, some exciting updates from big companies like Apple and Amgen are giving investors even more reason to smile.

The latest report from the Labor Department says that the U.S. added 175,000 jobs in April. That's lower than what experts were predicting. The unemployment rate stayed about the same at 3.9%, which is a bit higher than what folks were expecting. And when it comes to wages, they only went up by 0.2% last month, not as much as the 0.3% growth forecasted.

Jason Pride, who's a big shot at Glenmede, said, "The data suggests that the economy isn't doing as well as we thought, which is important. But hey, a 3.9% unemployment rate isn't too bad. It means there are still plenty of jobs out there."

Experts are now thinking that the Federal Reserve might lower interest rates by about 51 basis points this year. Before the report came out, they were only expecting a cut of about 41 bps.

This news comes after the Federal Reserve hinted that they might lower interest rates in their last meeting, which got Wall Street all excited on Thursday.

Now, let's talk about Apple. They're making waves after announcing that they're going to buy back a whopping $110 billion worth of their own shares. Plus, their earnings for the last quarter beat expectations. That's got investors feeling pretty good, which is why Apple's stock is up by 7.2% before the market even opens.

And Amgen, a big biotech company, is also seeing a surge in their stock price. They're excited because their weight-loss drug trial is going well, and their earnings for the first quarter were strong.

But not everyone's having a great day. Companies like Eli Lilly and Viking Therapeutics are seeing their stock prices drop a bit.

As of 08:42 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up by 497 points, S&P 500 E-minis by 58.25 points, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis by 284 points.

There's also some interesting news from companies like Block, Expedia, and Fortinet. Block's stock is up because they're expecting to make more money this year, while Expedia's stock is down because they're expecting to make less. And Fortinet's stock is down too, after they said they're not making as much money as people were expecting.

Also Read: Wall Street Rallies as Fed Holds Rates, Eyes Job Report