Stocks rise slightly to kick off second quarter

Stocks rose Friday as investors assessed a new quarter of trading and a troublesome bond market recession indicator.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 60 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite futures added about 0.3%.

Wall Street is fresh off its first negative quarter in two years, but there were positive signs for investors on Friday. Beaten-down tech stocks were pushing higher in early trading, with chipmaker AMD and streaming company Roku each rising more than 1%. Shares of Twitter rose more than 2%.

The price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell below $100 per barrel as the Biden administration pledged to release more strategic oil reserves. Energy prices surged earlier this year as Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted global supply, leading to some worry that the high prices could hurt economic growth.

Investors were also digesting the official jobs report for March, which showed the U.S. economy adding 431,000 jobs. The result was below the composite estimate of 490,000 from Dow Jones but above some of the lower end estimates.

"With some sentiment indicators in the US pointing in the wrong direction, the jobs data also came in weaker than expected, but not as bad as many would have feared given the backdrop," said Neil Birrell, Chief Investment Officer at Premier Miton Investors. "Job vacancies are still being filled and wage growth remains robust, suggesting that the economy is in good shape. That is the case for now; the key will be the impact on the jobs market and broad economy as rates jump higher and growth slows.

Stocks for now shook off a recession signal from the bond market that was triggered after the closing bell Thursday and again on Friday morning. The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields inverted for the first time since 2019.

For some investors, it's a signal that the economy is headed for a possible recession, though the inverted yield curve does not predict exactly when it will happen and history shows it could be more than a year away or longer.

Yields were higher on Friday, appearing to boost regional bank stocks. Shares of Comerica rose more than 3%.

U.S.-listed Chinese stocks jumped on Friday after a report that China was considering sharing company audits with foreign regulators. The so-called meme stocks also advanced, with Gamestop jumping 9% after announcing a plan to split its stock.

The three major averages slumped on Thursday to close out the first negative quarter for stocks in two years, with losses accelerating in the final hour of trading. The Dow and S&P 500 ended the quarter down 4.6% and 4.9% respectively during the period, and the Nasdaq dropped more than 9%.

The start of the Fed's rate hiking cycle, persistently high inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine contributed to the rough quarter for stocks.

Other key economic indicators to watch out for include the ISM manufacturing index and the construction spending report, both of which will be released at 10 a.m. ET on Friday.

Correction: This article was updated to accurately reflect trading in U.S. futures that started Thursday evening. An earlier version misstated the session.