Investing.com - Wall Street was mixed after the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in January, easing investor worries of an economic slowdown, while disappointing earnings from Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) led technology stocks lower.
The S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.11%, as of 9:31 AM ET (14:31 GMT), while the Dow gained 25 points, or 0.10%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 25 points, or 0.34%.
The Labor Department data showed that nonfarm payrolls rose by 304,000 in January, far above the consensus forecast of 165,000 jobs. The numbers were released just two days after the Federal Reserve signaled a pause in rate hikes due to economic headwinds, while data in Europe and China point to a slowing global economy.
"The payroll number was significantly stronger than what was expected, so a lot more people are finding jobs," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) in Austin, Texas.
"There is a huge concern about the growth rates in China and this certainly eases some amount of concern domestically."
Investors are also waiting for updates on trade talks between the U.S. and China. U.S. President Donald Trump said he could meet Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to seal a deal ahead of the March 1 trade deadline.
Amazon.com fell 4% after its revenue guidance was short of estimates, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) dipped 0.5% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) decreased 0.15%.
Elsewhere, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) jumped 2% after its earnings were higher than expected, while Chevron (NYSE:CVX) gained 2.7% on positive 2019 forecasts and results that surpassed expectations.
Semiconductor company Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) rose 2.2% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) rebounded 1.2%, while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was up 1.1%.
In commodities, gold futures jumped 0.1% to $1,327.10 a troy ounce and crude oil increased 1.5% to $54.59 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.12% to 95.188.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.