12:21 PM EDT, 06/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark stock indexes rose in midday trading on Friday after nonfarm payrolls increased more than forecast.

The Nasdaq Composite traded less than 0.1% higher at 17,177.1. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% at 5,359.9 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 38,955.4. All three indexes were off their sharp lows pre-bell. Materials and real estate were among the decliners intraday, while financials and industrials led the gainers.

In economic news, the May employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 272,000, above the 180,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. April payrolls were, however, revised downward to a 165,000 increase, and March payrolls were revised lower to a 310,000 gain.

"Payroll growth defied expectations in May, coming in well above the consensus forecast," TD Economics Senior Economist Thomas Feltmate wrote in a note. Job gains have averaged 249,000 over the past three months, but this pace is "unlikely to be sustained indefinitely," with most other metrics showing clear signs that the labor market is cooling.

Hourly earnings rose 0.4%, faster than the 0.3% gain expected and following a 0.2% increase in April. Hourly earnings were up 4.1% year-over-year, an acceleration from the 4% year-over-year gain in the previous month.

"The uptick in average hourly earnings will be something closely watched by (Federal Reserve) officials," Feltmate said. "Still elevated wage pressures are helping to sustain strong gains in service spending and are working against the (Fed's) efforts to bring down inflation across the service sector."

The US 10-year yield catapulted 13.3 basis points to 4.41%, and the two-year rate advanced 13.7 basis points to 4.86%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.2% to $75.38 a barrel.

In company news, Morgan Stanley downgraded Gen Digital ( GEN ) to equalweight from an overweight rating while adjusting its price target to $27 from $28. Shares of Gen traded 4.2% lower intraday, among the worst performers on the S&P 500.