United States stocks notched their best day in a month on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs after a second straight month of robust labour market data boosted optimism that economic growth is accelerating.
Advertisement
In other economic news, the US trade deficit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/US-trade-deficit-climbs-87-in-june-to-445-billion-2016-08-05) jumped 8.7% in June to a 10-month high of $44.5 billion, reflecting the higher cost of oil and more imports of consumer goods such as cellphones and drugs.
Large banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America rose more than 3.0 percent on expectations the report will boost the odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 35 new lows.
S&P 500 e-minis contracts were up 4.5 points, or 0.21 percent, with 133,754 contracts traded.
The S&P 500 touched 2,180.78, its ninth record intraday high since July.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 165 points, or 0.9 percent, to 18,517 as of 1:45 p.m.
The market had a fantastic end to the week, buoyed by a better-than-expected monthly jobs report.
The strong jobs report suggests that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in late June didn’t have much effect on USA companies’ hiring plans.
Ball Corp jumped 8.5 percent after its quarterly sales rose and was the top percentage gainer on the S&P 500.
Investors sold traditionally safe stocks like utilities and phone companies and the prices of gold and silver fell.
The data also suggests that the April and May jobs data was an aberration and that June was more consistent with what is going on in the economy, he said.
Investors are positioning themselves for little chance of a Fed rate hike anytime soon, Sarhan said. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said the economy needs to create just under 100,000 jobs a month to keep up with population growth. Banks rose the most Friday morning, as higher interest rates boost their profits on lending.
Stocks made their biggest gain in nearly a month.
The S&P 500 had hovered near a record since mid-July, with declines in crude and lackluster consumer spending stoking investor anxiety earlier this week. Investors sold bonds, precious metals, and phone and utility companies, safe investments that soared earlier this year as investors anxious about the health of the economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note is up three basis points to 1.535%. Strong quarterly earnings also helped lift Kraft Heinz and Priceline, which both rose 5 percent in midday trading. Its stock picked up $3.10, or 3.6 percent, to $88.65.
Security software maker FireEye tumbled after it reported weak sales, cut its estimates for billings and revenue, and said it will eliminate 300 to 400 jobs to reduce costs. Its stock plunged $2.04, or 12.2 percent, to $14.71. Its stock climbed 86 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $21.89.
Advertisement
The bank also caught many investors off guard by signaling they expect to cut rates closer to zero later this year and announcing additional easing measures, including an expansion of government bond purchases, launching a new program of corporate bond buying, and offering banks cheap four-year loans through a new term-funding scheme.
