The three major indexes on Wall Street opened higher as they digested December employment data released that day.
As of 9:50 a.m. on the 9th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 47.80 points, or 0.10%, from the previous session at 49,313.91. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 14.32 points, or 0.21%, to 6,935.78, and the Nasdaq composite was up 25.12 points, or 0.11%, at 23,505.13.
According to the U.S. Labor Department that day, December nonfarm institutional sector employment increased by 50,000 from the previous month. That fell short of the market forecast for a 60,000 increase. Employment figures for the prior periods were revised down.
October nonfarm payrolls were revised down by an additional 68,000, from a previously reported decrease of 105,000 to a decrease of 173,000. November new jobs were also lowered by 8,000, from 64,000 to 56,000. In contrast, the December unemployment rate came in at 4.4%, down 0.1 percentage point from the prior month's 4.5%.
Jeff Schulze, head of economic strategy at ClearBridge Investments, said, "The December employment report provided the first clear data since the temporary U.S. federal government shutdown, but the mixed readings (on employment and unemployment) failed to offer clarity on the state of the labor market."
By sector, consumer goods were weak while all other sectors gained. Shares of nuclear power companies Vistra and Oklo both climbed more than 10%. News that Meta signed contracts with Vistra and Oklo to secure resources to develop artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure lifted the stocks.
Intel rose nearly 4% after U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media Truth Social that he had an excellent meeting with the Intel chief executive officer (CEO). Southwest Airlines jumped more than 3% after JPMorgan upgraded its investment rating to overweight from underweight and sharply raised its price target to $60 from $36.
European stocks were also strong. The Euro Stoxx 50 was up 1.28% from the previous session at 5,979.90 in transaction. The U.K. FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 rose 0.63% and 1.12%, respectively, while Germany's DAX gained 0.46% from the prior session.
International oil prices were strong. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February 2026 delivery, the front-month contract, was up 2.30% from the previous session at $59.09 per Barrel.