US STOCKS-Wall St rises on better-than-feared jobs report, easing Sino-U.S. tension

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* Plunge in April nonfarm payrolls smaller than feared
* Disney rises as tickets sell out for Shanghai park
* Uber climbs as ride service bookings recover
* Indexes: Dow 1.34%, S&P 1.17%, Nasdaq 0.94%

(Updates to open)
By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock markets gained on Friday after
data showed the economy lost fewer jobs in April than feared due
to the coronavirus crisis, adding to optimism from an easing in
friction between Washington and Beijing.
All the 11 S&P sectors were trading higher, with the
defensive real estate .SPLRCR , utilities .SPLRCU and
consumer staples .SPLRCS indexes posting some of the biggest
gains.
Official figures showed nonfarm payrolls plummeted 20.5
million in April - their steepest plunge since the Great
Depression - but the number was still better than the 22 million
forecast by economists polled by Reuters. "There were whispers that the number could come in much
worse," said Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer at Wells
Fargo Wealth & Investment Management in New York.
"The fact they didn't come in higher is a bit of a relief
rally. The market is exhaling a little bit on the fact that the
worst jobs report in modern history wasn't even worse."
Wall Street's indexes are now on course for their first
weekly increase in three, with the Nasdaq recouping all its
losses for 2020, as investors pinned their hopes on supply
chains coming back on track and a revival in consumer spending
after several U.S. states reopened economies.
On Thursday, financial markets began pricing in a negative
U.S. interest rate environment for the first time ever,
expecting the Federal Reserve to pump even more cash into the
system to rescue the economy from a deep global recession.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX slipped to its lowest since
early March, consistently easing from levels last seen during
the global financial crisis.
"The disconnect between sanguine financial markets and an
imploding real economy grows larger by the day as bets for more
and more stimulus are leading Wall Street to turn a blind eye to
how catastrophic economic data really are," said Marios
Hadjikyriacos, investment analyst at online broker XM.
Also lifting the mood on Friday, Beijing said Sino-U.S.
trade negotiators had agreed to improve the atmosphere for the
implementation of a Phase 1 deal, days after President Donald
Trump threatened to impose new tariffs. At 10:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 320.09 points, or 1.34%, at 24,195.98, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 33.70 points, or 1.17%, at 2,914.89. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 84.69 points, or 0.94%, at 9,064.35.
Financial stocks .SPSY tracked a rise in Treasury yields,
while energy stocks .SPNY jumped on the back of higher oil
prices. US/ O/R
Disney rose 2.3% as tickets for the earliest days of
Shanghai Disneyland's re-opening in China sold out rapidly.
Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N jumped 4% as the company said
its ride service bookings recovered in recent weeks and that it
expects a coronavirus-related slowdown will delay the goal of
becoming profitable by a matter of quarters, not years.
But Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp CTSH.O fell 3.5%
after the IT services and outsourcing firm warned of weak demand
this year.