Defensive sectors such as utilities and telecom have led the market’s gains in 2016, while groups such as financials and tech have trailed. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 62, or 0.3 percent, to 18,621.
Advertisement
Key gainers included Microsoft, which rose 5.3 per cent after better-than-expected earnings, and Intel and Cisco Systems, which advanced 1.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.
“The better jobs number was a fundamental catalyst when you look at what happened in the market after”, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist and senior vice president at Charles Schwab.
The S&P 500 index showed 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 35 new highs and seven new lows.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) shed 1.67 percent on the day to 11.77.
Many doubts are still hanging over the market, including the continued drop for corporate earnings and a USA economy that is growing only modestly. Various earnings and economic reports have come in better than expected, however, and the S&P 500 is up more than 8% since June 27. That’s a sharp turnaround from the end of June, when the S&P 500 swung at least that much in six straight days, with one fear-inducing drop of 3.6 percent. With the loss, the index pulled back further off the nine-month closing high it set last Thursday.
In an expected move, the European Central Bank kept its interest rates and forward guidance unchanged. The industrials sector was down 0.4 percent, the only decliner among the 10 major S&P 500 sectors.
Japan’s economy is barely growing. “This is a case where the USA stock market is the only place to go”.
ENERGIZED: Southwestern Energy jumped $1.19 cents, or 9 percent, to $14.40. Additionally, a stronger dollar makes sales generated overseas worth less when translated to domestic currency. Rival Qualcomm QCOM.O fared better, with shares rising 7.5 percent after it reported strong demand for its mobile chips in China.
Intel shares fell 4 percent.
NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) – Upbeat company earnings lifted U.S. and European stock prices on Wednesday, with the Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 setting record highs, while the dollar reached a four-month peak on bets the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by year-end.
Microsoft was up 4.9 per cent at $US55.72 ($A74.25), making it the biggest boost to the three major indexes, after its results handily beat expectations. The company also raised its earnings forecast for the year. Before the report, the medical device maker’s stock had been up more than 30% for the year. A report on business in Britain was “truly awful”, according to one economist, and raised expectations of more central bank stimulus there. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent. The yield on the 10-year note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, fell to 1.55 percent from 1.59 percent late Monday. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond remained at 2.29 percent.
ENERGY: The price of USA crude oil rose 4 cents to $45.79 per barrel. Brent crude rose 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $47.22 in London.
CURRENCIES: The euro rose slightly to $1.1034 from $1.1015, while the dollar rose to 106.87 yen from 106.01 yen.
Advertisement
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
