Wall Street bounced back Friday, with the Nasdaq 100 heading for its best session since Sept. 21 as chipmakers recovered part of Thursday's historic AI rout. A blowout October jobs report added to the relief, easing fears that the economy is losing steam.
The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, well above the 65,000 economists had expected, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% on the month and 3.1% from a year earlier, both above forecasts, and August and September payrolls were revised up by a combined 84,000.
Chipmakers led the rebound:
- The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 3.8%, a day after chip stocks posted their worst session since 2020.
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) jumped 9.8%.
- Micron Technology Inc. (MU) added 6.3% after Thursday's 17.5% plunge.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 7,421, up 67 points, clawing back about a fifth of Thursday's 4.4% slide.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 57 points, or 0.1%, to 51,580. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) led the blue-chip index with a 3.9% gain as dip buyers returned after Thursday's 9.3% drop. The move added about $170 billion to Nvidia's market value, less than half of the roughly $447 billion it lost the day before.
The Nasdaq 100 rose 2% to 27,160, still 13% below its Oct. 6 record close. Within the Magnificent Seven, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) climbed 4.8% after CEO Elon Musk said the company will wind down Cybertruck production to make room for its self-driving Cybercab. The Russell 2000 advanced 0.9% to 2,754.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 16% to 23.67, after Thursday's nearly 70% spike.














