Stocks rise on strong jobs gain, lower unemployment rate

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising at the open on Wall Street Thursday after the U.S. government said employers added 4.8 million jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%. The figures were better than expected, though some experts caution that the report was compiled before a resurgence of coronavirus cases across the Sun Belt forced some businesses that reopened to shut again. Those closures call into question the strength of the jobs recovery. The Dow Jones industrials rose 1.5% in early trading and the S&P 500 gained 1.3%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose slightly to 0.69% and oil gained more than 1%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:

Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rose Thursday on hopes for the development of a coronavirus vaccine and ahead of the release of monthly U.S. jobs data.

Investors were encouraged after Pfizer and BioNtech announced preliminary data from a vaccine test, one of a series being carried out by global developers.

At the same time, the populous American states of California and Texas reported daily record highs in new cases.

“Vaccine hopes, while welcome, fall short of guaranteeing a V-shaped recovery,” Mizuho Bank said in a report.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 in London rose 1% to 6,219 and Frankfurt's DAX gained 2% to 12,504. The CAC 40 in Paris advanced 1.7% to 5,011.

On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.8% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1%.

The U.S. labor market report is expected to show a gain of about 3 million jobs in June — a record high — and a drop in the unemployment rate of a full percentage point to 12.3%.

Even so, the combined job growth for May and June would recover only a fraction of the 22 million jobs that were lost in March and April, when the virus forced business shutdowns and layoffs across the country.

Thursday's figure will likely set the tone in financial markets ahead of a long holiday weekend in the United States.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.1% to 3,090.57 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.1% to 22,145.96. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 2.8% to 25,124.19.

Seoul's Kospi advanced 1.4% to 2,135.37 while the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney gained 1.7% to 6,032.70. India's Sensex added 1.6% to 35,966.50. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta also rose.

Stock markets around the world roared back last quarter on hopes economies are pulling out of their deepest slump since the 1930s. Analysts warn, however, that prices might be rising too far and too fast to be supported by economic activity when infections are rising in the United States, Brazil and some other countries.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 30 cents to $40.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 55 cents to settle at $39.82 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international price standard, gained 35 cents to $42.38 per barrel in London. The contract rose 76 cents the previous session to $42.03 a barrel.

The dollar declined to 107.47 yen from Wednesday's 107.49 yen. The euro rose to $1.1278 from $1.1244.