US Stocks Rally Despite Weak Job Report, Tech Giants’ Mixed Earnings
US stocks kicked off November with gains on Friday, shrugging off weaker-than-expected job numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed nearly 300 points, while the Nasdaq Composite ended almost 1% higher.
The US economy added only 12,000 jobs in October, significantly below economist estimates of 106,000. This marks the lowest job gain since December 2020. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%.
Analysts attribute the job report weakness to recent hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida and North Carolina, as well as an ongoing Boeing strike involving approximately 30,000 workers. These factors have created challenges for the Federal Reserve in interpreting economic data.
Jeffrey Roach, LPL chief economist, suggests that the weak jobs report supports the case for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in upcoming meetings.
Major indices showed positive performance, with the S&P 500 closing at 5,728.88, up 0.41%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 42,051.80, up 0.69%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 18,239.92, up 0.80%.
In the tech sector, Amazon’s stock surged about 6% after exceeding analyst estimates in its latest earnings report. However, Apple shares fell over 1% due to weak performance in its China business.
Other market developments include rising election odds for Kamala Harris affecting the Trump trade, and Citi suggesting investors consider smaller stocks. Carvana stock has seen a remarkable surge of over 7,000% since narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in 2022.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased by 0.33% to $69.49 a barrel, while Brent crude rose by 0.37% to $73.08 a barrel. Gold saw a slight decrease of 0.20% to $2,743.80 an ounce.
The 10-year Treasury yield increased by nine basis points to 4.382%, and Bitcoin fell by 1.53% to $69,132.
As markets digest these mixed signals, investors remain cautiously optimistic about the economic outlook and potential Fed policy adjustments in the coming months.
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