US stocks climb after August jobs report, Dow reclaims 22K mark

Major US equity indices posted some modest gains during the opening hour of trade on Friday as investors digested weaker US nonfarm payrolls data.

The latest jobs report showed that the US economy added fewer than expected 156K jobs in August and the unemployment rate also ticked up to 4.4%. Adding to the disappointing headline numbers, estimates for previous two months were revised down. 

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings increased by 0.1% in August as against 0.2% expected. Against the backdrop of concerns over stubbornly low inflation, the sluggish wage growth might have now pushed back expectations for any additional Fed rate hike action in 2017 and was eventually seen benefitting riskier-assets - like equities. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 50-points to move back above the 22K psychological mark. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 Index added nearly 6-points to 2,478, while tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose around 15-points to 6,442.