NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Friday following a mixed report on the U.S. job market, one that may delay another cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve but not necessarily slam the door on it.
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Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market after the U.S. Labor Department said employers hired fewer workers in total during December than economists expected, though the unemployment rate improved and was better than expected. It reinforced the belief that the U.S. job market may be in a “ low-hire, low-fire” state.
While the overall data was mixed, the improvement in the unemployment rate was enough to get traders to ratchet back their expectations for a cut to interest rates at the Fed’s next meeting at the end of this month. Traders are now forecasting just a 5% chance of that, down from 11% a day before, according to data from CME Group.
But they’re still forecasting a high likelihood that the Fed will cut at least twice this upcoming year. Whether they’re correct carries high stakes for financial markets. Lower interest rates can goose the economy and push up prices for investments, though they also can worsen inflation at the same time.
“Until the data provide a clearer direction, a divided Fed is likely to stay that way,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “Lower rates are likely coming this year, but the markets may have to be patient.”
After the report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.19%, where it was late Thursday. It tends to track expectations for longer-term economic growth and inflation. But the two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks forecasts for what the Fed will do with short-term interest rates in the near term, ticked up to 3.50% from 3.49%.
On Wall Street, power company Vistra soared 14.6% to help lead the market after signing a 20-year deal to provide electricity to Meta Platforms from three of its nuclear plants. Big Tech companies have been signing a string of such deals to electrify the data centers powering their moves into artificial-intelligence technology.
Oklo jumped 12% after saying it also signed a deal with Meta Platforms that will help it secure nuclear fuel and advance its project to build a facility in Pike County, Ohio.
They helped offset a 1.6% drop for General Motors. The auto giant said it will take a $6 billion hit to its results for the last three months of 2025 related to its pullback from electric vehicles. That’s on top of the $1.6 billion in charges GM took in the prior quarter. Fewer tax incentives and easier fuel-emission regulations have been eating into demand for EVs.
WD-40 tumbled 13.7% after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Sara Hyzer said the soft numbers were primarily because of timing issues, not weaker demand from end customers, and the company stood by its financial forecasts for the upcoming year.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
The French CAC 40 rose 1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% for two of the world’s bigger gains. In Tokyo, Fast Retailing, the fashion company behind Uniqlo, jumped 10.6% after its quarterly operating profit surged about 34% year-on-year. It revised its full-year forecasts upward.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
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