Dow Jones 21206 plus 62
S&P 500 2439plus 9
DAX 12822 plus 158
FTSE7547plus 4
OIL 47.66 minus 0.70
GOLD 1278 plus 1.65
AUD0.7446
SPI futures plus 10
Granville........F-F-F Fetch your cloth
U.S. stock-market indexes closed at records Friday, led by gains for technology shares as investors looked past a weaker-than-expected May jobs report.
The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.37% closed up 9.01 points, or 0.4%, at a record 2,349.07, after touching an intraday record at 2,440.23. Tech, with a 1% rise, was the top performing sector. Energy shares finished down 1.2%, largely following oil prices. Financials stocks were another area of weakness on Wall Street, with the sector trading 0.4% lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.29% rose 62.11 points, or 0.3%, to finish at a record 21,206.29, led higher by shares of Boeing Co.BA, +1.55% and Microsoft Corp.MSFT, +2.37% Earlier, the average touched a record intraday high of 21,225.04.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.94% climbed 58.97 points, or 0.9%, to close at a record 6,305.80, after touching an intraday high of 6,308.76.
Along with all three main indexes closing at records, the Dow industrials finished the week up 0.6%, the S&P 500 advanced 1%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.5%. The May nonfarm payrolls data showed the economy added 138,000 jobs last month, coming in below Wall Street economists’ forecasts.
The details of the jobs report were also weaker than expected. The number of job gains for April and March were revised lower. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% but the decline was largely due to shrinking labor force. Average wages rose 0.2% to $26.22 an hour, in line with expectations.
“This is undoubtedly a weak jobs report, especially with downward revisions. But it’s just one data point that will not change the Fed’s course, which is to raise rates at its June meeting,” said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at Robert W. Baird & Co.
“Nonfarm payrolls month-to-month is a very jumpy number and a one-off weakness should not be seen as a beginning of a trend. For example, we’ve had a very poor print in May 2016, with 43,000 jobs. Since then, the S&P 500 is up about 400 points,” Antonelli said. Read:The S&P 500 has never had a down year after a start like 2017
Despite the unexpectedly low print on the jobs report, expectations for a rate increase in June didn’t fall. Fed fund futures are pricing in a 91% probability of a rate increase this month, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
While a June hike is widely expected, the weak jobs number and tepid wage growth may give the Fed pause when it comes to other rate increases this year, said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management, in an interview.
“Wage growth is not fabulous, and maybe that gives the Fed room to sit on rates,” Nolte said. “Markets love a near-zero rate.”
Should inflation trends and weakness persist then it’s entirely possible that a rate increase in June could be the last one of 2017, and with Treasury yields at unexpected lows, equities become one of the few games in town for a return, said Nolte. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.00% fell nearly 6 basis points to 2.154%, declining below its 200-day moving average for the first time since October. Meanwhile, the dollar weakened against other major currencies, with the ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, -0.55% last down less than 0.1% at 96.68. Other markets: Oil prices CLN7, -1.28% fell 1.5% to settle at $47.66 a barrel for a three-week low on Friday, partly driven by concerns that President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord will lead to an increase in U.S. oil output.
what we can expect
ho hum, another day, another record in the Dow, i think we can stop calling the Dax the Dax, at this height we should start calling it The Onesie
non farm payrolls, Market thinks they were an anomoly, futures currently up 10 points, Did gold rally hard, or did the USD drop hard? will they both invert tonight?
