S&P 500 opens sharply higher on upbeat NFP data

• S&P 500 climbs to fresh multi-week highs on Thursday.
• Unemployment Rate in US fell to 11.1% in June. 
• CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) drops more than 6% in early trade.

Wall Street’s main indexes opened the day sharply higher as investors cheer the upbeat labour market data from the US. As of writing, the S&P 500 was at fresh three-week highs at 3,158, gaining 1.35% on a daily basis. Furthermore, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite were rising 1.55% and 1.25%, respectively.

NFP data lifts market mood

Earlier in the day, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that Nonfarm Payrolls in June increased by 4.8 million. This reading beat the market expectation of 3 million by a wide margin and provided a boost to market sentiment. Additionally, the Unemployment Rate fell to 11.1% from 13.3% in May.

Reflecting the risk-on environment, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s fear gauge, was down 6.2% on the day at 26.85.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is up 2.83% as the top-gainer in the early trade ahead of the Financials Index, which is gaining 2%.