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U.S. stocks open mostly higher after strong jobs report

Xinhua, May 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened mostly higher on Friday, as Wall Street mainly digested the nonfarm payrolls report for April.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in April, better than market estimates, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday.

In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents to 26.19 U.S. dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 65 cents, or 2.5 percent.

Investors had been looking forward to April jobs report after March's numbers disappointed Wall Street.

Traders kept a close eye on the nonfarm payrolls to gauge whether the U.S. central bank could stay on its current path towards monetary policy normalization.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rates unchanged earlier this week as it waited for more data to assess the U.S. economic outlook. But Fed policymakers hinted at the possibility of a June rate hike.

Market expectations for a June rate hike were 78.5 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 16.83 points, or 0.08 percent, to 20,934.64. The S&P 500 rose 3.52 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,393.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.88 points, or 0.21 percent, to 6,088.22. Endi