U.S. stock prices rose to new record highs on Friday, Nov. 7, and these gains helped the securities finish the week higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19.46 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 17,573.93 at 4 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index gained less than 0.1 percent to 2,031.92. Of the 10 major sectors that compose the benchmark group of stocks, seven rose in value.
As a result of the appreciation enjoyed during this final session of the week, both of these indices closed higher for three days in a row, MarketWatch reported. The Dow managed to add 1 percent during the five-day period, and the S&P rose 0.7 percent during that time.
These equities moved higher as global markets responded to a monthly jobs report – and a separate report involving unemployment applications – that were released on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Both of these showed continued improvement in the job market.
The monthly report – provided by the U.S. Labor Department – showed the nation’s employers adding 214,000 positions in October. In addition, the unemployment rate ticked lower, hitting 5.8 percent. As a result, last month was the ninth in a row where the economy added more than 200,000 roles, according to Bloomberg. In addition, the Labor Department revised its figure for September upwards to 256,000.
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The report providing information on jobless claims revealed that during the week ending Nov. 1, these applications fell by 10,000 to 278,000. In addition, the four-week moving average was 279,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the former period’s revised figure.
Several experts weighed in on what the recent jobs data means.
“The [jobs] report is positive,” Brad Sorensen, Schwab’s director of market and sector research, according to MarketWatch. “The economy is still adding more than 200,000 jobs a month, but at the same time there is no indication that it is overheating as the wage growth remains muted. There is no reason for the Fed to get hawkish.”
“We’re moving toward pause mode and a period of digestion following the rally of the past few weeks,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told Bloomberg. “The market rallied in expectation of a generally positive employment report, which occurred with non-farm payrolls over 200,000. But average wages being flat implies the pace of growth is somewhat slow, so valuations may increasingly become an issue.”
Since hitting a six-month low on Oct. 15, the S&P 500 has climbed more than 9 percent as corporate earnings surpass analyst predictions at the highest pace in four years, according to the news source.
Investors who trade stocks online might benefit from knowing about the gains that U.S. equities made during the week ending Nov. 7. They could potentially augment this knowledge by staying aware of the developments that surround the weekly price movements.
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