US Equity Indexes Jump Amid Narrow Breadth in Nonfarm Payrolls Growth

04:39 PM EST, 01/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose on Friday after a jobs report revealed a narrow breadth in the slower-than-expected gains in December payrolls, supporting the argument for a further easing of monetary policy.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8% to 23,671.35, the S&P 500 advanced 0.7% to 6,966.28, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 0.5% to 49,504.07.

The December employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000, below the 70,000-job increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. November payrolls were revised down to a gain of 56,000, and October payrolls were also revised down to an addition of 173,000, for a net downward revision of 76,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Nonfarm payrolls excluding health care since April have been down by about 354,000, Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "Take health sector hiring out of the picture, and there isn't much else."

The Federal Open Market Committee should, therefore, view the full employment side of its dual mandate as under more pressure than the inflation side for now, Holt said. "That should motivate a cut [in] January given the Congressional mandate, even if it's a plug-your-nose-on-moral-hazard cut by potentially emboldening other aggressive policies."

Meanwhile, the BLS data showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.4% in December from 4.5% in November, compared with expectations for in-line. The labor force participation rate fell to 62.4% from 62.5%, and the size of the labor force declined, according to a report from the BLS on Friday.

"We are seeing a productivity revolution of extraordinary proportions," Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV, while concurring on the narrow breadth of nonfarm payrolls. "We have an economy that's growing at a quite robust rate, but we just don't need the people," implying fewer staff are needed for some of the jobs now compared with the past.

Further in economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 54.0 in January from 52.9 in December, above expectations for a smaller increase to 53.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Michigan survey respondents pegged one-year inflation expectations at 4.2%, unchanged from the prior month, while five-year inflation expectations rose to 3.4% from 3.2%.

US Treasury yields were mixed, with the 10-year yield slipping 1.8 basis points to 4.17% while the two-year rate jumped by 4.4 basis points to 3.53%.

Separately, the Supreme Court is expected to issue its next rulings on Wednesday, including the legality of the Trump administration's international trade tariffs, multiple media outlets reported. The court tends not to pre-announce cases that will be decided.

In company news, Meta Platforms (META) announced three separate nuclear power agreements, including those with Vistra (VST) and Oklo (OKLO) , as the technology giant aims to strengthen its data center operations and support its artificial intelligence initiatives. Shares of Vistra (VST) surged more than 10%, among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500. Oklo (OKLO) jumped 7.9%.

MT Newswires does not provide investment advice. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.