ZCZC
BCN-07
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
Nasdaq ends at record after strong US jobs data
NEW YORK, May 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks powered higher on
Friday, with the Nasdaq notching a new all-time record, following a strong US
jobs report that put unemployment at a 49-year low.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finished at 8,164.00, up 1.6 percent
and about two points above a record earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 percent, rising to 26,504.95,
while the S&P 500 climbed 1.0 percent to 2,945.64, narrowly missing a record
of its own.
The US economy added 263,000 net new positions in April, well above the
200,000 forecast by analysts.
Unemployment fell two tenths to 3.6 percent but the decline was in part
because the pool of workers shrank and fewer people were looking for jobs,
pulling them out of the labor force, the Labor Department reported.
Even with the positive attributes to the April jobs data, the report
showed wage inflation was measured, putting little pressure on the US Federal
Reserve to boost interest rates, analysts said.
“I don’t think everything is quite as rosy as the jobs numbers suggest but
for now traders are happy,” FTN Financial’s Chris Low told AFP.
Low also pointed to a report from the Institute for Supply Management that
showed services sector activity dipped in April.
Low said investors were also cheered by news that Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway had invested in Amazon, which jumped 3.2 percent.
“It’s him (Buffett) signing off the on the US stock market rally,” Low
said. “It’s not like him to make a high-profile buy at a market top.”
Earnings news was mixed, with Activision Blizzard losing 4.8 percent,
Monster Beverage gaining 8.8 percent and Gilead Sciences advancing 2.8
percent.
Marriott International advanced 2.4 percent after disclosing that Chief
Executive Arne Sorenson had been diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
In a message to employees, Sorenson said the cancer was discovered early
and that his doctors “are confident that we can realistically aim for a
complete cure.”
Sorenson said he intends to continue working at the hotel giant.
BSS/AFP/HR/0935