US stocks edge higher as investors weigh what a solid jobs report means for Fed rate hikes

• US stocks rose Friday following a largely solid March jobs report.
• The US economy added 431,000 job, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%.

Stocks rose Friday as investors started trading in April with a largely solid unemployment report for March that is seen keeping the Federal Reserve on track for further policy tightening.

The S&P 500 was modestly higher after the Labor Department said the US economy $4, which was below the forecast for 490,000 new payrolls.

"There was a large upward revision in the February numbers and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6% resulting in an overall report that was in line with expectations and will not affect future Fed policy," said Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager of the ICAP ETF, in a note to Insider.

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

• S&P 500>$4: 4,547.24, up 0.37%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average>$4: 34,777.06, up 0.28% (98.71 points)
• Nasdaq Composite>$4: 14,298.10, up 0.55%

Friday's rally comes after the S&P 500 on Thursday finished the first quarter with its first quarterly loss since March 2020.

"We expect that the stock market will be range-bound in the 4,400-4,600 range over the next few weeks as we await first-quarter earnings season," said Hatfield. "We expect earnings season to be a positive catalyst for stocks as most companies are benefiting from the strong economy and the wind-down of the pandemic."

Around the markets, Russia is on pace to $4 this year as trade partners continue buying its oil and gas.

The SEC said crypto platforms that hold customers' stashes $4.

Oil prices continued to fall after President Joe Biden announced releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. $4 slipped 0.8% to $99.44 per barrel. $4 the international benchmark, lost 0.6% at $104.12.

$4 prices fell 1% to $1,935.20 per ounce. The $4 climbed 8 basis points to 2.42%.

$4 fell 3.5% to $45,380.95.