The US stock market took off on Friday as traders digested a spate of tech earnings and key labor market indicators, fostering belief among investors that the Fed might ease interest rates. The benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each increased by 1% and 1.2%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite posted the biggest gain, rising 1.3%. This marked a recovery from Thursday's steep decline, driven by selling in tech shares after an intense week of earnings results.

However, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite remain on track to fall for the week, capping what has been a tough Octoberthe Nasdaq's first monthly decline since July, and the end of a five-month winning streak for both the S&P 500 and Dow.

Tech giants led the recovery on Friday, with Amazon (AMZN, Financial) climbing nearly 7% after it reported strong results driven by its cloud and advertising segments. Intel (INTC, Financial) rose by 5%, Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) by nearly 3%, and both Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) and Meta (META, Financial) reversed their previous declines. On the other hand, Apple's(AAPL, Financial) shares fell 1.5% after earnings beat forecasts.

Regarding the job market, the October report revealed slower-than-expected job growth, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.1%. This data has come under increased scrutiny as the Fed assesses the health of the labor market ahead of its next rate decision on Thursday.

In the Treasury market, interest rates reflected reassessed rate expectations; 10-year notes traded at 4.33% after falling following the jobs report. Broadly, market participants seem to have moderated their expectations for an aggressive rate cut by the Fed in the near future.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.