A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, Jan. 4, 2019. U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Friday, finishing the week on a high note, after tech stocks surged, job market retained strength and U.S. Federal Reserve chair hinted at slower monetary tightening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 746.94 points, or 3.29 percent, dramatically higher to 23,433.16. The S&P 500 jumped up 84.05 points, or 3.43 percent, to 2,531.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 275.35 points, or 4.26 percent to 6,738.86. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Friday, finishing the week on a high note, after tech stocks surged, job market retained strength and U.S. Federal Reserve chair hinted at slower monetary tightening.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 746.94 points, or 3.29 percent, dramatically higher to 23,433.16. The S&P 500 jumped up 85.05 points, or 3.43 percent, to 2,531.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 275.35 points, or 4.26 percent to 6,738.86.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell pacified growing market fears subsequent to Apple's slash of quarterly revenue forecast on Thursday, which incurred steep losses in the three major indexes.
Powell stressed Fed officials are patient and keeping a close eye on the voices of financial market, calling Fed policy as flexible and clung to real-time economic developments.
"As always, there is no preset path for policy," Powell said, along with his predecessors Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke at the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Atlanta on Friday.
"And particularly with muted inflation readings that we've seen coming in, we will be patient as we watch to see how the economy evolves," he noted.
He added that the U.S. central bank would not hesitate to adjust its balance sheet reduction plan if it causes problems in the markets. That means altering its massive bond-purchasing program initially implemented in late 2008 to rescue the collapsing U.S. financial system.
"If we ever came to the conclusion that any aspect of our plans" was causing a problem, he said, "we wouldn't hesitate to change it."
Rebounds in tech sector continued in the afternoon trading session, eroding some of the deep slumps of U.S. stocks bore previously this week.
All of the 11 primary sectors rallied in this week's final trading day, with the information technology sector up 4.4 percent and the communication services up over 4 percent, leading the winners.
Shares of Netflix and Intel bounced respectively nearly 10 percent and over 6 percent after the closing bell, boosted by upgraded stock ratings of leading U.S. financial institutions.
Shares of Tesla also rebounded markedly 5.8 percent at the closing time, clawing back the loss of more than 3 percent on Wednesday.
Such a recovery came on the heels of the electric vehicle giant's plan to deliver the Model 3 to China in March, according to the Chinese official website of the company earlier Friday.
On the economic front, stronger-than-expected employment data helped regain steam for the U.S. economy.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 312,000 in December, beating a market expectation of 176,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics under Labor Department reported on Friday.
Job gains occurred in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, manufacturing, and retail trade.
Yet the unemployment rate went up to 3.9 percent, which was highest level since July, 2018.
