US stocks gained at the end of the week. A favorable unemployment report reinforced the view that the economy remains healthy, although it also suggested that the U.S. central bank (Fed) could delay interest rate cuts. Among the individual sectors, the communication services, industrial and technology sectors performed best.
Indexes
The Dow Jones index gained 307.06 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 38,904.04 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 57.13 points, or 1.11 percent, to 5,204.34 points. The Nasdaq technology market index rose 199.44 points, or 1.24 percent, to 16,248.52 points.
The U.S. Labor Department said today that the U.S. economy created about 303,000 new jobs in March, more than expected. The unemployment rate surprisingly fell to 3.8 percent from February’s 3.9 percent. Wages then rose steadily. This suggests that the economy performed well in the first quarter.
The data reinforced expectations that the Fed is likely to delay cutting interest rates because a recession is not imminent, said Plumb Funds manager Tom Plumb. According to LSEG, currency markets now expect the Fed to cut interest rates twice this year, up from three cuts a few weeks ago.
But for the week, all three indexes fell. The Dow Jones by 2.27 percent, the S&P by 0.95 percent and the Nasdaq by 0.8 percent. The weekly losses were due to a series of mixed statistical data from the US and comments from some Fed officials.
Among the big titles, electric car maker Tesla weakened today in response to a Reuters report that the company had scrapped plans to produce a low-cost electric car.
Currencies
The US dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies today. It was helped by the March US labour market report, which signalled that the Fed will not have to rush to cut interest rates.
The dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s performance against a basket of six leading world currencies, rose 0.2 percent to 104.31 points. The index had a tumultuous week in which it rose to its highest in five months before falling to a two-week low.
The euro-dollar exchange rate was almost unchanged at $1.0839. The dollar rose 0.2 percent against the yen to JPY151.64. The euro strengthened 0.2 percent against the yen to JPY164.31.
zdroj: ČTK
