Equity Markets Close Higher as Investors Weigh Powell Remarks, Jobs Data

(21:16 GMT) Costco Price Target Cut to $1135.00/Share From $1150.00 by Loop Capital

US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Friday as traders assessed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments and the official jobs report for February.

* The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee would want "greater clarity" around the Trump administration's policy changes before making their next move on interest rates, Powell said.

"As we parse the incoming information (about policy changes), we are focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves," Powell said. "Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the US economy continues to be in a good place."

* Nonfarm payrolls in the US rose by 151,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The consensus was for a 160,000 increase, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate increased to 4.1% from January's 4%, which was the market view for February.

"Job growth is likely to soften over the coming months, as federal layoffs related to (the Department of Government Efficiency) continue to mount and ongoing trade policy uncertainty helps to weigh on near-term hiring intentions," TD Economics said.

* April West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.66 to settle at $67.02 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.88 to $70.34 following reports Russia's oil minister said OPEC+ may pause the return of 2.2-million barrels of daily production cuts to the market following the initial April tranche.

* Broadcom shares jumped 8.7%. The chipmaker late Thursday provided an upbeat outlook for its fiscal second-quarter revenue after delivering a fiscal Q1 beat.

* Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares plunged nearly 11%. The company late Thursday issued a downbeat full-year earnings outlook and announced plans to cut jobs.

Health care stocks advanced late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index up 0.3% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) adding 0.2%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.9%.

In sector news, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to conduct a large study into the potential relationship between vaccines and autism, Reuters reported.

In corporate news, Oruka Therapeutics shares rose 4.3% after the company said preclinical data on its monoclonal antibody ORKA-002 support potential extended dosing intervals and show equivalent potency to bimekizumab in plaque psoriasis.

Walgreens Boots Alliance jumped 7.4% after the drugstore chain agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Sycamore Partners in a deal worth up to $23.7 billion.

Molina Healthcare and Molina Healthcare of Texas agreed to a $40 million settlement with Texas following a Medicaid fraud investigation. Molina shares rose 1.4%.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that its Journavx non-opioid pain killer was added by UnitedHealth Group's (UNH) drug plan unit Optum Rx to its formulary. Vertex shares increased 0.7%.

Tech stocks rose late Friday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) adding 1.2% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) climbing 3.2%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 3%.

In sector news, President Donald Trump's administration is considering various measures to limit the use of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, including a ban of the chatbot from government devices due to national security concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In corporate news, Apple's improvements to its voice assistant Siri will be delayed until 2026, Reuters reported. Apple shares were rising 1.2%.

Intuitive Machines shares fell past 21% after the firm said its lunar lander Athena landed inside a crater, with images confirming it "was on her side."

AI researchers at Microsoft believe they have achieved a notable milestone in the company's effort to reduce its dependence on OpenAI's technology for most of its AI products, The Information reported. Microsoft shares were shedding 1.4%.

Broadcom shares jumped past 8%, a day after it reported fiscal Q1 non-GAAP earnings and revenue that topped analyst estimates.

US benchmark equity indexes are on track to close higher on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments on the Trump administration's policy changes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 42,700.9, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.4% to 18,137.9. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% to 5755.9. Utilities and energy sectors were the top gainers and consumer staples had the steepest decline.

Broadcom was the best performer on the S&P 500 with shares up 8%. The chipmaker late Thursday provided fiscal second-quarter revenue guidance ahead of analysts' estimates after delivering a first-quarter beat.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares were down 13% after the company shared plans to achieve roughly $350 million in run-rate cost savings by fiscal year 2027 through workforce reductions.

Costco Wholesale shares fell 6.6%. The company's fiscal Q2 net income missed analysts' consensus late Thursday.

The 10-year US Treasury yield gained 4.3 basis points to 4.3%, while the two-year rate was up 2.9 basis points to 4%.

April West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1% at $66.99 a barrel.