US stocks soar 1% at Friday opening as jobs figure smashes estimates

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major exchanges in the US soared more than 1% at the opening on Friday as jobs figure smashed market estimates.

The Dow Jones was up 378 points, or 1.14%, to 33,505 at 9.40 a.m. EDT (1340GMT). The S&P 500 rose 48 points, or 1.19%, to 4,109.

The Nasdaq jumped 130 points, or 1.09%, to 12,097 at the time.

The US economy added 253,000 jobs in April, coming much higher than market estimates of 180,000 gain, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, from 3.5%, the Labor Department announced earlier.

Amid strong macroeconomic figures, the VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 10.6% to 17.96. The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, rose 2.8% to 3.446%.

The dollar index rose 0.2% to 101.59, while the euro trimmed 0.26% to $1.0983 against the greenback.

Precious metals reversed course and fell sharply, with the price of gold diving 2.2% to $2,005 per ounce and silver plummeting 3% to $25.26 an ounce.

Crude oil prices, on the other hand, jumped more than 3.9% with the global benchmark Brent crude price at $75.36 per barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude price at $71.50.