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Amazon.com ( AMZN ) surges as retail strength boosts profit

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US job growth slows sharply in October

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Consumer discretionary index up 2.3%

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Indexes up: Dow 0.74%, S&P 500 0.52%, Nasdaq 0.81%

(Updates as of 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT))

By Abigail Summerville

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes climbed on

Friday, rebounding from the previous day's sell-off as Amazon's ( AMZN )

strong earnings countered a significant drop in U.S. job growth

in October.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) rose 6.4% after it reported earnings on

Thursday that revealed strong retail sales, boosting profit

above Wall Street estimates.

Meanwhile, Apple ( AAPL ) dropped 1.6%, the only so-called

Magnificent Seven member in the red, as investors worried about

a decline in its China sales.

Meta Platforms ( META ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) also reported

earnings earlier this week and warned on AI-related

infrastructure costs, dragging the Nasdaq down on

Thursday.

"A new month frequently seems to offer new optimism for

investors - especially after we saw a sharp decline yesterday -

and after seeing encouraging results from Apple ( AAPL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ),"

said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Equity markets brushed off weak U.S. October nonfarm

payrolls data, given disruptions from hurricanes and strikes.

The data showed an increase of 12,000 jobs, much smaller than

economists' estimate of a 113,000 rise.

However, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%,

reassuring investors the labor market remained on solid ground

ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

"Third-quarter earnings, interest rates and the election

continue to be the main drivers in the near term," Stovall said.

After the data was released, investors largely stuck to bets

that the central bank would cut rates by 25 basis points in

November.

The U.S. election is on investors' minds, with many analysts

predicting a close presidential race and some uncertainty over

the final outcome. The Fed's November meeting kicks off the

following day.

At 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial

Average rose 308.61 points, or 0.74%, to 42,072.07, the

S&P 500 gained 29.65 points, or 0.52%, to 5,735.10 and

the Nasdaq Composite gained 147.37 points, or 0.81%, to

18,242.52.

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) gains lifted the Consumer Discretionary index

up 2.3% to a more than two-year high, while Utility

and Real Estate stocks were the biggest

sectoral decliners.

The Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track

for weekly declines.

Intel ( INTC ) jumped 6.7% after a better-than-expected

revenue forecast. An index of chip stocks was up 1.4%.

Chevron ( CVX ) rose 2.5% after beating third-quarter profit

estimates on higher oil output.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.02-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered

decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted ten new 52-week highs and five new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 96 new

lows.