US stocks climb as investors cheer strong Apple earnings and assess big April jobs report

• US stocks push higher on Friday but were still in line for weekly losses.
• Apple and regional banks stocks were providing upside support for the equity market. 
• The April payroll report came in stronger than expected, with 253,000 jobs added to the economy. 

US stocks marched higher Friday as investors focused on gains in Big Tech behemoth Apple and a rebound in regional bank stocks while the April jobs reports came in stronger than anticipated. 

The S&P 500 was on course to snap a streak of four consecutive losses. That move was aided by Apple, with iPhone sales leading a beat in fiscal second-quarter earnings. 

Meanwhile, PacWest, Western Alliance and shares of other small to mid-sized banks climbed after a punishing sell-off earlier this week. Banks are asking the SEC to stop short-seller attacks on their stocks driven by social-media speculation. 

Treasury yields climbed after the US jobs report outstripped expectations. Nonfarm payroll employment soared by 253,000 in April compared with a 180,000 estimate. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%.

"A strong job market will boost earnings and household spending capacity, which is good for the housing market and broader economy. However, a too-strong market means the Fed has to tighten further, dampening that good news and running a higher risk of over-tightening," Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, wrote in a note.

Wall Street's key indexes were still looking at weekly losses. 

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday: 

•  S&P 500: 4,098.68, up 0.92%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,443.70, up 0.95% (315.96 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 12,083.76, up 0.98%

Here's what else is happening today:

• Short sellers brought in $400 million in a single day from the selloff in regional banks. 
• The dollar's slump will continue as the Fed prepares to pause rate hikes, UBS said.
• The Fed just brought in its final interest-rate hike, billionaire bond investor Jeff Gundlach said.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.1% to $70.65 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.7% to $74.50.  
• Gold fell 1.1% to $2,031.90 per ounce. 
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose 10 basis points to 3.45%.
• Bitcoin edged up 0.4% to $28,974.10.