US open: Stocks mixed as traders digest NFP data

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Friday as traders digested last month's all-important nonfarm payrolls report. As of 1505 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.28% at 40,870.74, while the S&P 500 lost 0.29% to 5,487.30 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.80% weaker at 16,991.08.

The Dow opened 114.99 points higher on Friday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session as market participants thumbed over several jobs reports in an effort to gain further insight into the state of the US economy during August.

Friday's primary focus was August's nonfarm payrolls report, which revealed job growth in the US picked up only slightly last month. According to the Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls grew by 142,000 in August. Economists had forecast an increase of 161,000. Furthermore, non-farm payrolls figures for the previous two months combined were revised down by a combined 86,000.

Average hourly earnings, however, rose by a strong 0.4% month-on-month, ahead of consensus estimates of 0.3%, while the rate of unemployment, which is derived from a separate survey than that for the payroll numbers, ticked lower to 4.2%, in line with expectations.

In the corporate space, software firm DocuSign was in the green following its quarterly top and bottom-line beat, while semiconductor giant Broadcom traded lower after issuing Q4 guidance that fell short of analysts' expectations.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com