Dow, S&P rise over 1.6% apiece to end 4-day losing streak

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose more than 1.6% apiece to close higher on Friday, as both stock exchanges ended their four-day losing streak.

The blue-chip Dow increased 546 points, or 1.65%, to finish the day at 33,678.

The S&P 500 jumped 75 points, or 1.85%, to end the last trading day of the week at 4,136.

The Nasdaq soared 269 points, or 2.25%, to close the session at 12,235.

Major gains in the exchanges came after jobs figure smashed market estimates.

The US economy added 253,000 jobs in April, coming much higher than market estimates of 180,000 gain, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, from 3.5%, the Labor Department announced earlier.

Amid strong macroeconomic figures, the VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 14.3% to 17.21. The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, rose 2.5% to 3.434%.

The dollar index was down 0.14% to 101.26, while the euro increased 0.06% to $1.1018 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in negative territory, with the price of gold diving 1.5% to $2,018 per ounce and silver plummeting 1.4% to $25.67 an ounce.

Crude oil prices, on the other hand, soared around 4% with the global benchmark Brent crude price at $75.29 per barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude price at $71.36.