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WALL STREET RISES AS SOLID PAYROLLS OFFSET MIDDLE EAST JITTERS

The main U.S. indexes are higher early on Friday after a stronger-than-expected employment report alleviated worries about the labor market's health, while a rebound in chipmakers is also bolstering investor sentiment.

U.S. employment increased more than expected in April while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, pointing to labor market resilience and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some time.

Meanwhile, geopolitical concerns linger as U.S. and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf, denting hopes of a swift resolution to the Middle East conflict and a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for oil and liquefied natural gas. The United States said on Friday it expected an Iranian response as soon as later in the day to its latest proposal to end the war in the Gulf.

A majority of S&P 500 sectors .SPX are higher with tech SPLRCT, up nearly 2%, the leading gainer. Energy .SPNY, down around 0.9%, is the weakest group.

Under the surface, chips .SOX and gold/silver miners .XAU are posting strong gains. Software & services .SPLRCIS, IGV.P is on the weak side.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC are on track to rise for a sixth-straight week.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood a little more than 10 minutes into Friday's session.

(Terence Gabriel)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

US STOCK FUTURES ADD SLIGHTLY TO GAINS AFTER LATEST JOBS DATA CLICK HERE

SEMICONDUCTOR RESILIENCE CLICK HERE

WOULD PEACE BOOST EUROPEAN STOCKS? CLICK HERE

CHINESE HOLIDAY DATA MAKES HSBC NERVOUS ABOUT BIG AIRLINES CLICK HERE

MIDDLE EAST PEACE WORRIES RETURN CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: CEASEFIRE UNDER THREAT CLICK HERE

MARKETS CLING ON AS CEASEFIRE IS TESTED CLICK HERE