Wall Street stocks rose early Wednesday after solid US employment data bolstered confidence in the economic outlook.
The United States added 130,000 jobs last month, government data showed, significantly higher than the 55,000 predicted in leading surveys.
The jobless rate inched lower to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent in December.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 50,322.03.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 6,971.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.5 percent to 23,208.46.
The report “offers investors a sigh of relief that we are not falling into a dismal jobs environment that could be projecting an impending recession,” said CFRA Research Sam Stovall.
But one downside of the figures will be lower expectations for imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Among individual companies, Mattel plunged 27.2 percent after reporting disappointing results.
CEO Ynon Kreiz pointed to disappointing demand in December and said the toymaker’s 2026 investments would crimp profits this year but “accelerate growth in top and bottom lines in 2027 and beyond.”
