Page 25 - aruba-today-20190406

BUSINESS Saturday 6 april 2019
A25

Stocks approach record after US jobs report hits sweet spot

By STAN CHOE months of the year. If the helped lead the way. crude oil. during the quarter. Com-
Associated Press index ends Friday higher, it The Dow Jones Industrial The strong jobs report panies are holding on to
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks would clinch a seven-day Average rose 35 points, or helped expectations for oil less of each $1 of revenue
climbed Friday after a bet- winning streak, its longest in 0.1%, to 26,419, and the demand, and benchmark as profit than a year ago,
ter-than-expected report analysts say.
on U.S. jobs eased worries BREXIT WOES: Britain’s FTSE
that the economy is slow- 100 rose 0.6% after Prime
ing too sharply. Minister Theresa May re-
U.S. employers added quested a further Brexit ex-
196,000 jobs last month, tension from the European
more than economists had Union until June 30 to give
forecast. More importantly, the U.K. breathing room
it gave encouragement since it is now scheduled to
to economists who said leave the bloc in just one
the prior month’s jobs re- week.
port, which was shockingly European Council Presi-
weak, may have been an dent Donald Tusk proposed
aberration and that the a longer time frame, urg-
economy can continue ing the 27 other EU nations
to grow, albeit at a slower to offer the U.K. a flexible
pace. extension of up to a year
The jobs report also hit a to make sure the nation
happy medium for mar- doesn’t crash out of the
kets, strategists said. It was bloc in a chaotic and cost-
neither low enough to ly way.
heighten recession worries In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo trader John Panin works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 in France
nor high enough to prod Associated Press gained 0.2% while Germa-
the Federal Reserve to ny’s DAX was up 0.2%.
raise interest rates. a year and a half. Nasdaq composite gained U.S. crude rose 48 cents to BOND WATCH: Treasury
“This is another green shoot Stocks around the world 0.6%. $62.58 per barrel. It’s close yields wavered following
of growth,” Steve Chiava- have also been climbing JOBS REPORT: The stronger- to hitting its highest settle- the jobs report.
rone, portfolio manager as the United States and than-expected jobs report ment price since Novem- The yield on the 10-year
and equity strategist at China say they are making helped smooth concerns ber. Brent crude, the inter- Treasury tends to rise and
Federated Investors, who progress on talks to ease about the economy, after national standard, rose 43 fall with expectations for
pointed to other encour- their trade war. President February’s report initially cents to $69.83. the U.S. economy and infla-
aging data about the U.S. Donald Trump said Thurs- said just 20,000 jobs were Energy stocks in the S&P tion, and it had been large-
and China’s economies day that the U.S. and China added during the month, 500 jumped 1.3%, by far the ly falling since last autumn
from recent weeks. He ex- were “rounding the turn” in which was sharply below biggest gain among the 11 as worries about a possible
pects economic growth to the talks, which resumed the recent pace. The gov- sectors that make up the recession grew. After hit-
re-accelerate after hitting Wednesday in Washing- ernment on Friday revised index. ting a bottom at 2.37% last
a bottom in the first part of ton. No details were an- that number to growth of UPCOMING EARNINGS: week, though, it had be-
2009. nounced, but Trump said 33,000. Profitability is one of the gun to recover.
And with the Fed on re- after meeting with Chinese Average hourly earnings market’s top concerns as On Friday, the yield on the
cord saying it may not raise Vice Premier Liu He that rose 3.2% in March from companies line up to begin 10-year Treasury climbed
rates at all this year, after “something monumental” a year earlier, which was reporting their first-quarter as high as 2.54% in the
having done so four times could be announced with- weaker than economists’ results next week. minutes following the job
in 2018, “good news now in weeks. forecasts. Markets pay Analysts expect compa- report’s release, up from
is just good news,” Chia- Challenges still lay ahead close attention to the num- nies in the S&P 500 to report 2.51% late Thursday. But the
varone said. That’s unlike for the market, though, in- bers because while higher a nearly 4% drop in earn- gains evaporated, and it
prior market scares, when cluding expectations for wages help workers afford ings per share from a year subsequently dipped down
investors saw strong data the weakest batch of cor- to buy more things, they earlier, which would be the to 2.50%.
as bad news because it porate earnings reports in also crimp corporate profit first decline since the spring The yield on the two-year
could encourage a more years. margins. of 2016. Treasury, whose move-
aggressive Fed. The men- KEEPING SCORE: The S&P ENERGIZED RETURNS: The expected drop in prof- ments are more closely tied
tality flipped earlier this 500 rose 0.4%, as of 12:20 Apache, EOG Resources its is due almost entirely to the Fed’s actions, also
year after the Fed said it p.m. Eastern time. Ten of and Anadarko Petroleum to weaker profit margins. bounced up and down
may not raise rates at all the 11 sectors that make all rose at least 3%, as en- Analysts are forecasting following the jobs report.
this year after raising them up the index were higher. ergy-related stocks plowed that revenue grew nearly It was at 2.33%, up from
four times in 2018. Energy and health care higher with the price of 5% for S&P 500 companies 2.32% late Thursday.q
The S&P 500 has climbed
every day this week,
though most of the gains Applications for US unemployment aid fall to 49-year low
were only modest, and
it now sits just 1.4% away By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER applications for jobless aid fell 10,000 such as weak consumer and business
from its most recent record Associated Press to a seasonally adjusted 202,000. That spending, and sluggish growth over-
high, which was set in Sep- WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of is the lowest since the week of De- seas, points to slower U.S. growth this
tember. people seeking U.S. unemployment cember 6, 1969. year.
The index has been tack- benefits fell to its lowest level since Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so A report Wednesday from payroll
ing on more gains since late 1969, a sign that employers are the drop to such a low level indicates processor ADP found that business-
closing out its best quarter holding onto their workers despite that companies are cutting very few es added just 129,000 jobs in March,
in nearly a decade, with a signs of a slowing economy. workers. down from 197,000 the previous
13.1% rise in the first three The Labor Department says weekly That’s a reassuring sign as other data, month.q