5 Dec 2014
Wall Street closes at records as the jobs report changed the picture
FXStreet (San Francisco) - US stocks closed Friday and the week with gains as investors welcomed an upbeat jobs report in the United States in November. Investors are assuming that the economy is back on track and can support a rate hike in 2015.
The Dow Jones and the S&P finished in record close; both indexes closed its seventh consecutive week in positive. The Dow failed to break above the 18,000 level, however it seems a matter of time as growth is outpacing the rate hike fears. Small cap companies in the Russell 2000 figure rose 0.63% to 1.180.47.
The DJIA rose 0.33% on the day to close at 17,958.79; the Dow Industrials finished 0.72% positive on the week. The S&P 500 won 0.17% to 2,075.37; 0.38% positive in the week. The Nasdaq posted 0.24% daily gains to 4,780.75, but the Composite finished 0.23% negative in the weekly basis.
By sectors: Financials rose +0.71%, Health Care advanced +0.69%, and Consumer Discretionary won +0.52% on the day. To the downside, Energy shares lost 1.26%, Utilities declined 0.42% and Materials was 0.26%$ down.
Why? The employment report showed more people working, they are working longer hours and making more money, combined with low oil prices. It means more credit, less defaults and more shopping just ahead of the holiday season. So banks and retailers will be doing better.
On the dark side, temporary jobs also increased in the November report. And remember, the labor participation rate is the lowest since the 1970s. It is true that the US economy is on track for the best year for employment growth since 1999; But still depressed wages.
By market capitalization, big winners were JPMorgan $JPM (2.15%), Bank of America $BAC (2.73%) and Gilead Sciences $GILD (2.72%). Top losers were Google $GOOGL (-2.67%), BHP Billiton $BBL (-2.21%) and Alibaba $BABA (-1.16%).
US bond yields and the US dollar were higher while the crude Oil fell to test the $65.00 level and the Gold declined to 1,190.
The Dow Jones and the S&P finished in record close; both indexes closed its seventh consecutive week in positive. The Dow failed to break above the 18,000 level, however it seems a matter of time as growth is outpacing the rate hike fears. Small cap companies in the Russell 2000 figure rose 0.63% to 1.180.47.
The DJIA rose 0.33% on the day to close at 17,958.79; the Dow Industrials finished 0.72% positive on the week. The S&P 500 won 0.17% to 2,075.37; 0.38% positive in the week. The Nasdaq posted 0.24% daily gains to 4,780.75, but the Composite finished 0.23% negative in the weekly basis.
By sectors: Financials rose +0.71%, Health Care advanced +0.69%, and Consumer Discretionary won +0.52% on the day. To the downside, Energy shares lost 1.26%, Utilities declined 0.42% and Materials was 0.26%$ down.
Why? The employment report showed more people working, they are working longer hours and making more money, combined with low oil prices. It means more credit, less defaults and more shopping just ahead of the holiday season. So banks and retailers will be doing better.
On the dark side, temporary jobs also increased in the November report. And remember, the labor participation rate is the lowest since the 1970s. It is true that the US economy is on track for the best year for employment growth since 1999; But still depressed wages.
By market capitalization, big winners were JPMorgan $JPM (2.15%), Bank of America $BAC (2.73%) and Gilead Sciences $GILD (2.72%). Top losers were Google $GOOGL (-2.67%), BHP Billiton $BBL (-2.21%) and Alibaba $BABA (-1.16%).
US bond yields and the US dollar were higher while the crude Oil fell to test the $65.00 level and the Gold declined to 1,190.