Markets Right Now: US stocks edge higher in early trading

NEW YORK (AP) – The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local):

9:35 a.m.

Stocks are edging higher in early trading as investors found some things to like in the government’s latest jobs report.

The Labor Department reported early Friday that the unemployment rate fell to a nearly 10-year low of 4.5 percent.

That helped send some stocks higher. Industrial companies were posting modest gains. Union Pacific and Southwest Airlines both rose.

Bond yields edged lower, which pushed interest rates down. Capital One Financial fell 0.9 percent and U.S. Bancorp fell 0.4 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1 point to 2,358.

The Dow Jones industrial average increased 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,673. The Nasdaq composite was flat at 5,879.