DailyBrief: May 9

Markets & Economics

US Payrolls Top Estimates as Labor Market Stabilizes
The US economy added 115,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April, comfortably ahead of the 55,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health care led with 37,000 jobs added, followed by transportation and warehousing at 30,000 and retail trade at 22,000, while federal government employment continued to decline. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent on the month and 3.6 percent on the year, suggesting wage pressures remain moderate. The data eased fears of a sharp labor market deterioration but did little to change market expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its policy rate at 3.5 to 3.75 percent through year end. Source: CNBC
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S&P 500, Nasdaq Notch Fresh Records on Jobs Data and AI Rally
US stocks closed at all time highs on Friday as the stronger than expected April jobs report combined with renewed enthusiasm for AI related names. The S&P 500 added 0.76 percent to 7,392.56 and the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.71 percent to a record 26,247.08, while the Dow inched up 0.02 percent to 49,609.16. It was the sixth consecutive weekly gain for the S&P 500. AI infrastructure plays led the move, with AMD jumping 18 percent on a blowout earnings report and Micron Technology adding another 16 percent. Cloudflare and HubSpot were notable laggards, falling 24 percent and 19 percent respectively on disappointing guidance and restructuring news. Source: TheStreet
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Brent Crude Tops $100 as Iran-US Tensions Reignite Hormuz Supply Fears
Brent crude futures climbed back above $100 a barrel on Friday, reversing three days of losses after fresh military exchanges between the US and Iran threatened to derail diplomatic efforts to end the regional conflict. WTI was trading near $104 per barrel by mid morning in New York. The International Energy Agency reiterated that the conflict has removed roughly 14 million barrels per day of supply from the global market, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since late February. The renewed price surge complicates the Federal Reserve's inflation outlook and adds pressure on the European Central Bank, which last week debated a possible rate hike as eurozone inflation hit 3 percent. Source: NewsX
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AMD Stock Surges 18 Percent After Data Center Revenue Jumps 57 Percent
Advanced Micro Devices reported first quarter revenue of $10.25 billion, up 38 percent year over year and well ahead of the $9.89 billion consensus, sending the stock up 18 percent in a single session. The standout figure was a 57 percent jump in data center revenue, which reinforced investor conviction that hyperscaler AI capital spending is still accelerating. The result lent fresh support to the broader semiconductor complex, with Micron Technology rising another 16 percent in sympathy. Combined with Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet's collective $725 billion in 2026 capex guidance, the AMD print suggests AI infrastructure spending remains the dominant earnings driver heading into the back half of the year. Source: Yahoo Finance
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Tech & AI

Cloudflare Cuts 1,100 Jobs as AI Reshapes Internal Operations
Cloudflare announced it will reduce its workforce by 20 percent, eliminating roughly 1,100 positions, as the company restructures around AI driven productivity gains. The disclosure came alongside first quarter results in which revenue rose 34 percent year over year to $639.8 million, but second quarter guidance of $664 million to $665 million pointed to a deceleration to about 30 percent growth. Shares plunged 24 percent on Friday, the company's worst single day move in over a year. Management framed the layoffs as a structural shift, citing AI tools that have collapsed the headcount needed for engineering, support, and go to market functions. The cut is one of the largest AI attributed layoffs in tech this year. Source: CNBC
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Anthropic Taps SpaceX's Colossus 1 for Massive Compute Boost
Anthropic has reached a deal to use the full computing power of SpaceX's Colossus 1 facility in Memphis, Tennessee, gaining access to more than 220,000 Nvidia processors and roughly 300 megawatts of new capacity within a month. The agreement adds to Anthropic's previously disclosed $200 billion, five year commitment to Google Cloud and an expanded partnership with Broadcom on custom silicon. The pact is notable given Elon Musk's ongoing legal battle with OpenAI, signaling SpaceX is willing to monetize spare Colossus capacity even to direct AI rivals. For Anthropic, the deal materially shortens the timeline for scaling Claude training and inference workloads as enterprise demand continues to outrun supply. Source: Al Jazeera
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