U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Friday to finish a successful first week of June. Market participants were enthused following the release of better-than-expected jobs data for May which evaporates a near-term recession fear.
Moreover, positive development on U.S.-China trade talk also bolstered investors’ confidence on risky assets like equities. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. For the last week, these indexes also finished in green.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 1.05% or 443.13 points to close at 42,762.87. Notably, 25 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 5 finished in negative zone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 19,529.95, surging 1.2% or 231.50 points due to strong performance of technology bigwigs.
The major gainer of the tech-laden index was Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. The stock price of the AI-enabled Internet-based software maker for intelligence community advanced 6.5%. PLTR currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.03% to finish at 6,000.36. Wall Street’s most observed benchmark closed above the technically crucial 6,000 level for the first time since Fed 21. All 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV), the Communications Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC), the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) and the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 1.3%, 1%, 1.3%, 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 9.3% to 16.77. A total of 14.5 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.8 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.14-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 2.52-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Better-Than-Expected Jobs Data
The Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy added 139,000 jobs in May, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 120,000. The metric for April was revised downward by 30,000 to 147,000 from 177,000 reported earlier. Likewise, the metric for March was revised downward by 65,000 to 120,000 from 185,000 reported earlier.
Unemployment rate remained same month-over-month at 4.2% in May. The real unemployment rate (including discouraged workers and the underemployed) also remained same month-over-month at 7.8% in May. Average workweek remained flat at 34.3 in May.
Average hourly wage rate increased by 0.4% in May, surpassing the Consensus estimate of 0.3% and April’s data of 0.2%. Year over year, average hourly earnings increased 3.9% in May, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3.7%.
U.S.-China Trade Talk
President Donald Trump said that the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two other top level Trump administration officials will hold a talk with their Chinese counterparts in order to negotiate tariffs and trade related disputes between the two largest trading partners of the world. Aside from Bessent, other two U.S. delegators will be Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
On May 12, the United States and China have decided to for a 90-day pause of tariff implementations. The two countries agreed in a discussion in Switzerland to reach a temporary agreement that “reciprocal” tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. United States’ 20% tariffs on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl will remain intact, meaning total tariffs on China will be 30%.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a successful one for Wall Street. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 1.2%, 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively. Positive developments on U.S.-China trade talks and strong nonfarm payrolls in May boosted market participants’ confidence in risky assets like equities.
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Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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