Major indexes clawed back from early losses in the stock market Friday after the Labor Department reported 224,000 new jobs in June, handily beating Wall Street estimates and renewing concerns that the Fed wouldn't cut interest rates this month.
XStocks showing gains after declining early included Simply Good Foods (SMPL) and software names Zscaler (ZS) and ServiceNow (NOW). The latter two have a spot on IBD Leaderboard.
Big banks, including Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC), also advanced.
The strong jobs data initially sent stocks lower on concerns that the Federal Reserve would be less likely to cut interest rates this month. But that was tempered by data showing slowing pay increases for workers, a sign of possible softening.
From a bright red early in the day, many stocks on the major indexes turned bright green by the end of the day as markets trimmed their losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both dropped just below 0.2%. The Nasdaq fell 0.1%, while the small-cap bellwether Russell 2000 rose nearly 0.2%.
Volume was light in post-holiday trading. NYSE turnover fell 32%, while Nasdaq volume dropped almost 11%, according to early data from MarketSmith.
Stock Market Winners: Software, Again
Simply Good Foods rose 4%. After trading as low as 23.24 late last week, SMPL has run up 18% in six days of trading after reporting a higher-than-expected 60% EPS gain in its fiscal Q3.
Security software provider Zscaler, on IBD's Leaderboard, added 3%. The 2018 IPO is now extended at a new high.
And ServiceNow added 0.4% to move back above its 281.84 buy point out of a five-week flat base. NOW has a best-possible 99 Composite Rating from IBD, and is ranked first in the Computer-Software/Enterprise Group.
Stocks showing gains included a number of software names on IBD's Sector Leaders List, IBD's most powerful and stringent stock screen. Among them: Paycom Software (PAYC), up 1.5%, Atlassian (TEAM), up 1.3%, Veeva Systems (VEEV), up 0.8%, and custom software developer Epam Systems (EPAM), up 1.5%.
With a 50-point rate cut by the Fed no longer considered a sure thing this month, banks also did well.
Bank of America added 0.7%, Morgan Stanley (MS) tacked on 0.5% and Wells Fargo (WFC) moved up 0.25%.
Please follow Jones on Twitter at @IBD_TJones for more on growth stocks, financial markets and the economy.
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