Equities Climb Intraday Amid Apple Rally as Traders Parse Jobs Data

US benchmark equity indexes rallied intraday, partly driven by a post-earnings surge in the Apple (AAPL) stock, as markets evaluated a weaker-than-expected jobs report.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 2% at 16,156.9 after midday Friday, while the S&P 500 rose 1.3% to 5,129. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.2% to 38,702.1. Tech jumped 3.1%, the best sector performer among sectors. Energy was the sole decliner.

Apple shares jumped 7%, among the top gainers on all three indexes. The technology giant late Thursday logged a surprise increase in fiscal second-quarter earnings despite a slowdown in iPhone sales. Apple announced additional stock repurchase authorization of up to $110 billion.