ZCZC
BCN-04
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks jump on strong November jobs data
NEW YORK, Dec 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks surged higher on
Friday following a strong US jobs report, with petroleum-linked equities
especially buoyant after an OPEC agreement to cut output.
Stocks closed higher for the third straight session, though a bit below
all-time highs following the November jobs data, which topped expectations by
a wide margin.
US firms added a massive 266,000 net new positions last month, while the
jobless rate fell a tenth of a point to 3.5 percent, matching a 50-year low.
Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, said
investors were heartened at higher manufacturing employment following the end
of the General Motors strike and that the report in general was strong enough
“to assuage fears that the economy was slowing.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 28,015.06, up 1.2 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to 3,145.91, while the tech-
rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced one percent to 8,656.53.
Besides the strong jobs data, markets were supported by positive sentiment
about US-China trade talks. White House economic aide Larry Kudlow told CNBC
a deal between the two economic giants “is still close.”
Petroleum producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron both won more than one percent
after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies
reached a deal in Vienna to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day.
Among individual companies, Uber Technologies dropped 2.7 percent as it
disclosed that it had tallied nearly 6,000 sexual assaults in the United
States over the past couple of years, including more than 450 cases of rape.
The report comes as the company faces complaints that it is doing too
little to protect passengers. Some analysts said the release of the report
was constructive in that it showed the company was trying to tackle the
problem.
Goldman Sachs gained 3.4 percent following a Bloomberg report that it
could end up paying less than $2 billion to resolve a US criminal probe in
its role in the scandal over 1MDB, a corruption-plagued Malaysian fund. The
figure is below some estimates.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925