The S&P 500 (SPX) index rallied on Friday as the latest U.S. jobs data lifted the stock market higher. The April report saw 177,000 jobs added, compared to an estimate of 133,000. This came alongside an unchanged month-to-month unemployment rate of 4.2%. The strength of the job market reassured some investors during economic uncertainty.
Today’s increase built on a rally throughout the week, helping reignite investor confidence after a rough first quarter of the year. This was fueled by earnings season, as many companies posted results that boosted shareholders’ hopes.
Today’s news has the S&P 500 up 1.31% as of this writing, with the index also up 3.44% over the last five days. Despite this rally, the SPX is still down 4.72% year-to-date.
Stocks Boosting the S&P 500 Index Today
Turning to the TipRanks S&P 500 heatmap, traders will see which stocks have lifted in the index up today. Much of the index is green today as the stock market undergoes a rally. However, there are a few stocks seeing major drops today. One notable stock down on Friday is Apple (AAPL), which failed to impress investors or analysts after its latest earnings report.
How Does This Affect SPY Stock?
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) has also gained throughout the week as it tracks the movement of the S&P 500 index. That’s resulted in a 1.35% rally as of this writing and a 2.7% increase over the last five days. Even so, the ETF is still down 5.1% since the start of the year.
The analysts’ consensus rating for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is Moderate Buy, based on 411 Buy, 86 Hold, and seven Sell consensus ratings for the shares SPY covers. With that comes an average price target of $649.39, representing a potential 14.75% upside for SPY shares.
