US STOCKS-Wall Street stocks buoyed by strong economic data, possible U.S.-China trade talks

By Chibuike Oguh and Sruthi Shankar

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks advanced on Friday, on track for the second straight week of gains, helped by strong economic data and potential easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

The U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April, exceeding expectations, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The data helped to assuage concerns of a economic slowdown following a Commerce Department report, showing a contraction in U.S. gross domestic product for the first time in three years, weighed down by a tariff-induced flood of imports.

"The stock market is cheering this morning's payroll report but I have to point out that job growth did slow on the month and I haven't seen too many comments about that," said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group.

"I was a bit surprised because I was expecting a sharper slowdown given that non-farm payroll survey happened the week after the tariffs were announced. So I think the market is taking this in a positive light."

Beijing said on Friday it was "evaluating" an offer from Washington to hold talks over President Donald Trump's 145% tariffs, which he had imposed on Chinese imports.

The tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two largest economies have kept investors on edge, with both sides unwilling to be seen backing down in a trade war that has roiled global markets.

Still, Trump's reversal of some tariffs has helped U.S. stock indexes recover from recent losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was trading at levels last seen before April 2, dubbed "Liberation Day", when the president unveiled massive global tariffs.

The S&P 500 was headed for its ninth consecutive session of gains, while the Dow was also on track for a nine-day winning streak, its first since December 2023 and the Nasdaq is set for a second straight day of gains. For the week, all three indexes were set to make a 3% gain for the week.

At 2:19 p.m, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 593.22 points, or 1.45%, to 41,344.78, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 90.52 points, or 1.62%, to 5,694.81 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 313.10 points, or 1.77%, to 18,024.51.

"I do think what today is saying is that the economy is a lot stronger than people thought and a lot more resilient in the face of all of these tariffs and fears about tariffs," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital in New York.

Apple AAPL.O fell nearly 4% after the iPhone maker trimmed its share buyback program by $10 billion and CEO Tim Cook told analysts that tariffs could add about $900 million in costs this quarter.

Other so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, including Amazon AMZN.O, Meta Platform META.O, and Nvidia NVDA.O, were trading up between 0.3% and 5.2%.

Oil giant Chevron CVX.N rose 1.6%, while Exxon Mobil XOM.N added 0.5% after both reported quarterly results.

Block XYZ.N slumped 21% after cutting its profit forecast for 2025 and missing estimates for quarterly earnings.

Videogame maker Take-Two Interactive TTWO.O fell 4.6% after it delayed the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" to May 2026.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,332 stocks rose and 1,030 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.23-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 33 new lows.