Marketbites: Spring's Nonfarm Payrolls Grow
MARKET PERFORMANCE:
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Portfolio Manager Commentary:
Stocks rose on Friday after the strong jobs report and the Senate passing a deal to raise the debt ceiling late Thursday. Also, the CBOE Volatility Index, a measure of financial market volatility, fell to the lowest level since February of 2020.
With Friday’s gains, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished the holiday-shortened trading week about 1.8% and 2% higher, respectively. The Dow’s Friday advance pushed it into positive territory for the week, finishing up around 2%. The Nasdaq notched its sixth straight week higher, a streak length not seen for the technology-heavy index since 2020.
Recently strong employment data had been pressuring stocks on the notion it would keep the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. But Friday data also showed average hourly earnings rose less than economists expected year over year, while the unemployment rate was higher than anticipated. Both data points have given investors hope that the Fed could pause its interest rate hike campaign at the policy meeting later this month, according to Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Meanwhile, Lululemon shares popped more than 12% on strong results and a guidance boost, while MongoDB surged almost 28% on a blowout forecast.
Chart of the Day:
Nonfarm payrolls grew much more than expected in May, rising 339,000 despite economists polled by Dow Jones expecting a relatively modest 190,000 increase. It marked the 29th straight month of positive job growth. The latest data does little to settle the Fed’s debate over whether to hold rates steady at a meeting this month, but does suggest that if officials do so, they could favor raising rates later this summer.
Source: WSJ
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