WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction earlier in the session, stocks are seeing modest strength in afternoon trading on Friday. With the upward move on the day, the S&P 500 has reached a new record intraday high.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow is up 78.74 points or 0.2 percent at 38,964.91, the Nasdaq is up 36.01 points or 0.2 percent at 17,209.13 and the S&P 500 is up 15.33 points or 0.3 percent at 5,368.29.
The modest strength on Wall Street comes following the release of the Labor Department's closely watched report on employment in the month of May.
The report showed employment jumped by much more than expected in May but also showed an unexpected uptick in the unemployment rate.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 272,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 165,000 jobs in April.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 175,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the annual rate of growth by average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 4.1 percent in May from 4.0 percent in April.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.0 percent in May from 3.9 percent in April. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.
With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in January 2022.
While the report has offset recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates, the data has also helped quell recent concerns about the strength of the economy.
'This report places more emphasis on next week's release of the CPI report, which could move markets in either direction and similarly modify the Fed's stance regarding future policy,' said Quincy Krosby, Chief Global Strategist for LPL Financial
Sector News
Despite the modest strength being shown by the broader markets, gold stocks continue to see substantial weakness on the day, resulting in a 6.5 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for August delivery plummeting $65.80 to $2.325.10 an ounce.
Significant weakness also remains visible among interest rate-sensitive telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
Steel, networking and housing stocks have also moved to the downside on the day, while pharmaceutical and banking stocks are seeing some strength.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi jumped by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index all fell by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower in reaction to the stronger than expected monthly jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 14.3 basis points at 4.424 percent.
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