US open: Shares start higher after NFP; Amazon surges on results beat

(Sharecast News) - US stocks opened higher on Friday as traders mulled the impact of the latest job report on future interest rate moves by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.52% or 192 points to 35,408, in early deals while the S&P 500 index rose 0.59% to 4,530 and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite 0.77% higher at 14,064.

Official data showed 187,000 jobs were added in July, less than the 200,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate also ticked lower to 3.5% from 3.6%.

Average hourly wages came in ahead of expectations, rising 0.4% for the month, and 4.4% on an annualised basis. That was slightly ahead of the 0.3% and 4.2% expected, respectively.

Shares in Amazon were up almost 10% as the ecommerce giant beat forecasts last night to report sales up 11% to $134.4bn in the last quarter. The company reported a quarterly profit of $6.7bn - almost double analysts' expectations.

Amgen gained on strong earnings.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com