Dow closes 300 points higher in Friday rebound, but registers worst week in 2024: Live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday up 307.06 points, or 0.8%, making a comeback after four straight days of losses this week. The S&P 500 closed 1.11% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.24%.

All three indexes still ended the week in the red.

— Pia Singh

Unemployment for Black workers jumped in March, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The unemployment rate for Black Americans jumped to 6.4% from 5.6% in February. That is much higher than the overall unemployment rate, which fell slightly to 3.8% last month.

In contrast, the unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans dropped to 4.5% from 5%. Likewise, Asian workers also saw their unemployment fall to 2.5% from 3.4% in February.

Read the full story here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

The Russell 2000 headed for its worst week since January as small-cap stocks struggled.

The small-cap-focused index was down 2.9% on the week as of Friday afternoon. If that holds through the market close, it will mark the worst week since early January, when the index slid 3.8%.

With that drop, the Russell 2000 was tracking for a bigger loss than the three major averages this week. That reflects the broader trend of underperformance for small-cap stocks this year.

— Alex Harring

Crude oil futures may have more room to rally as the commodity has formed a bullish chart pattern.

U.S. crude and Brent entered a "golden cross" this week, which is when the 50-day moving average outpaces the 200-day moving average. Investors typically view a golden cross as an indication of positive momentum and the potential for further upside.

The 50-day moving average for U.S. crude of $79.07 a barrel is slightly outpacing its 200-day moving average of $79.02. Brent's 50-day moving average is $83.74 a barrel, above the 200-day moving average of $83.54.

U.S. crude and the global benchmark have rallied to five-month highs as geopolitical tensions boil in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. OPEC member Iran has vowed to retaliate after accusing Israel of striking its consulate in Damascus this week.

— Spencer Kimball

The Nasdaq Composite is headed for a 0.6% loss this week, its worst weekly performance since March.

Some of the biggest losers in the concentrated Nasdaq-100 include Intel and Walgreens Boots Alliance, which have shed 12% and 11.4%, respectively. Lululemon Athletica, Sirius XM Holdings and Charter Communications have lost about 8% each, while Tesla and On Semiconductor are headed for losses exceeding 6%.

Advanced Micro Devices is poised to finish the week with a nearly 5% loss, while artificial intelligence darling Nvidia is down more than 2%.

Several critical stocks have bucked the downtrend, with Meta Platforms headed for a nearly 9% gain. Micron Technology and Netflix have jumped at least 4%.

— Samantha Subin

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

• Tesla — The electric vehicle maker lost nearly 2% after Reuters reported its long-promised plans for a low-cost car amid competition from Chinese EV makers. Investors had been counting on the entry-level car to propel its growth into a mass-market automaker.
• Krispy Kreme — Shares jumped 6% after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. The firm cited the doughnut chain's partnership with McDonald's, announced last week, and an improving narrative.
• Enphase Energy — The solar stock lost 5% after Citi downgraded it to neutral from buy, citing "limited corporate liquidity" and noting trends "are weaker sequentially in the U.S." Citi also downgraded Plug Power, whose shares slipped less than 1%.

For more, read here.

— Tanaya Macheel

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intraday high of 416.78 points, or 1.08%, during midday trading Friday as stocks rallied after a stronger-than-expected March jobs report. The 30-stock index is still on track to close the week down roughly 2%.

— Pia Singh

Every sector within the S&P 500 traded higher on Friday, helping the broad index make up some ground. But most are still on pace to end the week with sizable losses.

All 11 sectors were on track for gains in the session, led higher by communication services and information technology names. As a whole, the index was up more than 1% during Friday trading.

Despite Friday's broad advance, just two of the 11 sectors are on pace to finish the week with gains. Those sectors are energy and communication services, which have rallied more than 3% and 2%, respectively.

On the other hand, real estate and health care have seen the biggest drops this week, with each slipping around 3%. The index is poised to finish the week lower by 0.9%.

— Alex Harring

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is down -5.66% week to date, putting it on pace for its worst week in more than a year back to March 10, 2023, when it lost -6.07%.

The XRT's weekly leaders to the downside include Walgreens, Leslie's, Foot Locker, Ulta and Burlington, which are all down more than -10% for the week.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla

Investor sentiment is at its limit, and that could mean weaker returns from here, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

A review of the bull-bear spread from Investors Intelligence and the American Association of Individual Investors shows that bullish sentiment is stretched to relatively extreme levels, read a Thursday note from the firm. Investors Intelligence showed the bull-bear spread is roughly in the 99th percentile, according to data going back to 1997. AAII data showed the bull-bear spread is roughly in the 85th percentile. Together, they average out to the 96th percentile.

Historically, the high reading means lackluster returns from here. Over the next week, stocks typically fall just slightly, Bespoke said. Over the next three months, they average just a 100 basis point, or 1 percentage point, gain. Over the next year, equities average a 296 basis point, or greater than 2 percentage point, advance.

"The current reading in the 10th decile (highest spread) leads to the worst average returns," read the note.

— Sarah Min

The major U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 55 points, or 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%.

— Pia Singh

Oil prices are on pace for a weekly gain as tensions boil in the Middle East with Israel closing embassies over threats from Iran.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery rose 39 cents to $86.98 a barrel, while the Brent June contract gained 55 cents to $91.20 a barrel. U.S. crude is up 4.5% for the week while the global benchmark has added 4.2%.

Israel has closed 28 embassies around the world amid fears of retaliatory strikes from Iran, according to multiple reports in Israeli media. Iran has blamed Israel for a missile strike on its consulate in Damascus that killed a top Iranian general. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike.

Tamas Varga, an analyst with oil broker PVM, said the geopolitical temperature has climbed to levels not seen since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.

— Spencer Kimball

The March nonfarm payrolls came in stronger than expected Friday morning, which is another sign of a resilient U.S. labor market.

The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs last month, topping the 200,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate was 3.8%.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in March, and are up 4.1% over the past year. The average workweek ticked up to 34.4 hours.

— Jesse Pound

These are the stocks making headlines during premarket trading.

• Krispy Kreme — Shares of the doughnut chain surged 5% during premarket trading after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral.
• Cinemark — Shares of the movie theater chain popped nearly 5% following a double upgrade to overweight from underweight at Wells Fargo.
• Western Digital — The semiconductor stock rose nearly 3.5% after an upgrade to buy from neutral by Rosenblatt Securities.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Japan is likely to intervene if the yen weakens past the 152 level against the U.S. dollar, according to a former top currency official.

Tatsuo Yamazaki, who oversaw Japan's 35 trillion yen intervention campaign to weaken the currency in 2003 through 2004, told Reuters in an interview that once the dollar climbs above 152 yen, the pair's rise could accelerate and offer an opportunity for authorities to intervene.

On Thursday, Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan's top currency diplomat from 2004 to 2007, said authorities will not intervene until the yen crosses 155 against the greenback.

The yen was trading at 151.17 on Friday.

— Lim Hui Jie

HSBC and Standard Chartered's Hong Kong-listed stocks rose Friday after the banks announced stock buybacks in London.

HSBC said it has bought back about 3.36 million of its shares at an average price of 6.4016 pounds, or $8.08, while StanChart bought back 1.14 million shares at an average price of 7.07 pounds.

Shares of StanChart in Hong Kong climbed 2.61%, while HSBC shares rose 2.12%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Samsung Electronics on Friday said it expects to report a 931% jump in first-quarter operating profit amid a recovery in memory chip prices.

Operating profit in the three months ending March likely rose to 6.6 trillion Korean won, or $4.89 billion, exceeding LSEG analysts' expectation of 5.24 trillion won. Profit in the same period a year ago was 0.64 trillion won.

Memory chip prices saw a drastic fall due to excess inventories post-Covid while the smartphone and PC markets was affected by weak demand.

Samsung shares were down 1.06% during morning trading.

— Sheila Chiang

Consumer spending in the U.S. is likely to see at least a modest bump as a result of a resurgence in household wealth due to the stock market rally and higher house prices, according to London-based Capital Economics.

"The continued surge in the stock market that we forecast is likely to drive household net wealth to a record high as a share of incomes and provide a tailwind to consumption growth," Andrew Hunter, deputy chief U.S. economist, wrote Thursday.

American household stock holdings jumped $7 trillion in the first quarter, while total household net wealth climbed $8.5 trillion, including the value of homes, Hunter said. The research firm sees household wealth advancing an additional $20 trillion by the end of 2025, "as an AI-fueled bubble inflates" and house prices gain another 6% by the end of next year.

Any added spending resulting from households feeling more wealthy is likely to bolster consumer spending rather than lead to a big upswing, the firm said. "We suspect rising household wealth is likely to underpin a gradual acceleration in consumption growth in 2025-26 rather than driving a sudden boom," wrote Hunter. 

— Scott Schnipper

Expect a strong March jobs report as the U.S. Department of Labor rolls out its payrolls data Friday morning.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that employers added 200,000 jobs last month, which would indicate a slowdown from February's addition of 275,000.

While job gains are a key area of focus for Wall Street, traders will be looking through the Labor Department's report for revisions to previous payrolls reports. In its February results, the federal agency announced sharp downward revisions to December and January's payroll data.

Investors — and the Federal Reserve — will also have an eye on wage growth. Economists anticipate average hourly earnings gained 0.3% in March. That would be an increase from February's 0.1% jump.

Read more from CNBC's Jeff Cox on the details in the upcoming jobs report.

— Darla Mercado

Investor optimism over the outlook dipped in the latest weekly poll from the American Association of Individual Investors, while still remaining above its historical average for a 22nd consecutive week, coinciding with the start of the current bull market.

Bullishness fell to 47.3% from 50.0% last week, against an historical average of 37.5%.

Bearishness about the outlook for stock prices stayed below its historical average for a 22nd week, easing to 22.24% from 22.4% last week versus an historical average of 31%. Neutral sentiment climbed to 30.5% from 27.6%, the eighth time in 10 weeks it was below its historical average of 31.5%.

Sentiment indicators are used as a contrarian signal. When bullish readings get too extreme, it is regarded as a sign that optimists have finished most of their buying and little money remains on the sidelines to come into the market. Conversely, extreme bearish readings can signal that most selling is done and plenty of cash is on the sidelines ready to buy stocks.

— Scott Schnipper

With just Friday's session left in the trading week, the three major indexes are on track for notable drops.

The Dow has lost about 3% so far, putting it on pace for its worst week since March 2023. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have each slipped around 2%.

— Alex Harring

Dow futures traded slightly above flat shortly after 6 p.m. ET. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 each added around 0.1%.

— Alex Harring