NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Friday after a strong monthly employment report supporting the idea that the US economy continues to do well without fueling inflation.
U.S. employers hired more than expected last month, according to the Labor Department report released an hour before trading opened, and continued to raise wages, suggesting that the first quarter was ended on a robust note for growth, and could also prompt the Federal Reserve to delay its highly anticipated rate cuts.
On an annual basis, however, wage growth slowed to 4.1%, from 4.3% in February, and the increase in average hourly wages remained in line with estimates by economists polled by Reuters.
“We’re at a point where it looks like things are looking good from a growth perspective without causing inflation to spike,” said Brian Nick, investment strategist at the Macro Institute.
“What we continue to see is that a robust economy is not necessarily inflationary, and this jobs report, even if it is only one month, reinforces the lower likelihood of “a recession, which is more important than expectations on the timing of interest rate cuts,” also notes Tom Plumb, portfolio manager in Madison, Wisconsin.
Money markets are now counting on two rate cuts this year, compared to three just a few weeks ago, according to LSEG data.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.8%, or 307.06 points, to 38,904.04 points.
The S&P-500 gained 57.13 points, or 1.11%, to 5,204.34 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 199.44 points (1.24%) to 16,248.52 points.
Over the past week, the S&P 500 fell by 0.95%, the Nasdaq by 0.8% and the Dow Jones by 2.27%.
All major S&P sector indexes finished higher, led by communications, industrials and technology.
Against the trend, Tesla lost 3.6% after Reuters reports that the manufacturer had given up on its affordable electric car project.
(Chibuike Oguh; Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version)
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