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BUSINESS A25
                                                                                                                                Saturday 6 May 2017

After jobs report, a late push takes stocks to new records

MARLEY JAY                      In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Constellation Brands brought a Mariachi band to play on the                                     percent, to $46.22 a barrel
AP Markets Writer               floor of the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell, Friday, May 5, 2017.                                               in New York. Brent crude,
NEW YORK (AP) — A solid                                                                                                                                          the standard for interna-
pickup in hiring last month                                                                                                             (AP Photo/Richard Drew)  tional oil prices, added 72
helped push the stock mar-                                                                                                                                       cents, or 1.5 percent, to
ket to record highs Friday.     gains and the impact on       Employers in the United      economic growth.                                                      $49.10 barrel in London. Oil
The gains were driven by        corporate margins as we       States added 211,000 jobs                                                                          prices had fallen earlier this
energy, technology and          move into 2018,” he said.     in April, according to the   Energy  companies                                                     week as investors wonder
industrial companies.           The Standard & Poor’s 500     Labor Department. That                                                                             if OPEC will extend a deal
The Labor Department told       index climbed 9.77 points,    comes after slow hiring      bounced back as the price                                             that trimmed oil produc-
investors what they had         or 0.4 percent, to 2,399.29.  over the first three months                                                                        tion. Occidental Petroleum
hoped to hear: employers        The Dow Jones indus-          of the year and sluggish     of oil steadied. After two                                            rose $2.38, or 4.1 percent,
added more workers last         trial average rose 55.47                                                                                                         to $60.40 and Transocean
month after a sluggish be-      points, or 0.3 percent, to                                 steep losses in three days,                                           jumped 84 cents, or 8.1
ginning to the year.            21,006.94.                                                                                                                       percent, to $11.18. Baker
Energy companies rose as        The Nasdaq composite                                       benchmark U.S. crude oil                                              Hughes gained $1.92, or
the price of oil recovered      jumped 25.42 points, or 0.4                                                                                                      3.3 percent, to $59.33.
from losses earlier in the      percent, to 6,100.76, which                                jumped 70 cents, or 1.5                                               Apple jumped $2.43, or
week. Media companies           beat a record it set earlier                                                                                                     1.7 percent, to $148.96,
like CBS and Charter Com-       this week. The Russell 2000                                                                                                      another record for the
munications recovered           index of smaller-company                                                                                                         world’s most valuable pub-
from their losses earlier       stocks added 8.15 points,                                                                                                        licly-traded company. That
in the week. Technology         or 0.6 percent, to 1,397.                                                                                                        helped tech stocks move
companies rose, but IBM                                                                                                                                          higher.
missed out after billionaire                                                                                                                                     Basic materials makers ad-
investor Warren Buffett said                                                                                                                                     vanced. Dow Chemical
he sold a large part of his                                                                                                                                      gained $1.67, or 2.7 per-
stake in the company.                                                                                                                                            cent, to $63.09 and gas
After a quiet morning,                                                                                                                                           supplier Praxair rose $3.16,
stocks rose in the afternoon                                                                                                                                     or 2.5 percent, to $129.48.
and the S&P 500 finished                                                                                                                                         Fertilizer maker CF Indus-
above the all-time high                                                                                                                                          tries climbed $1.35, or 5
close it set March 1.                                                                                                                                            percent, to $28.42.q
Scott Wren, senior global
equity strategist at Wells
Fargo’s Investment Insti-
tute, said stocks benefited
from the combination of
greater hiring and slower
wage growth because if
wages rise too quickly it will
affect corporate profits.
“The market is likely to be
concerned about wage

US consumer borrowing rises
solid $16.4 billion over March

PAUL WISEMAN                    cent.
                                Economists watch consum-
AP Economics Writer             er borrowing closely. Con-
                                sumer spending accounts
WASHINGTON (AP) —               for about 70 percent of U.S.
                                economic activity.
American      consumers         The government reported
                                earlier this week that con-
stepped up their borrowing      sumer spending was flat in
                                February and March, one
in March, taking out more       reason the economy grew
                                at a lackluster 0.7 percent
loans for cars and school.      annual pace in the first
                                quarter of 2017. Still, most
The Federal Reserve report-     economists expect growth
                                to pick up in the spring and
ed Friday that total con-       summer.
                                The Fed decided this week
sumer borrowing rose by         to leave interest rates un-
                                changed but signaled
$16.4 billion, or 5.2 percent,  that it expects economic
                                growth and hiring to be
in March, up from a $13.7       strong enough to justify
                                rate hikes later this year.
billion increase in Febru-

ary and the biggest uptick

since November’s $25.5 bil-

lion jump.

The category that includes

student and auto loans

jumped by nearly $14.5 bil-

lion, or 6.2 percent —the

most in five months. The

category that covers credit

cards rose more modestly,

up by $2 billion or 2.4 per-
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