Closing Market Summary: S&P Nearly Recoups Weekly Decline In Friday RallyU.S. equities rallied on Friday following the publication of the monthly jobs report, with technology names leading the charge -- including Apple (AAPL 183.83, +6.94), which rallied 3.9% after Warren Buffet revealed his company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 195.64, +4.03), bought an additional 75 million shares of Apple in the first quarter. The Russell 2000 jumped 1.2%, the S&P 500 advanced 1.3%, the Dow climbed 1.4%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.7%.
Equity indices opened the session modestly lower, but things turned around quickly after the S&P 500 found support at its 200-day moving average. Stocks climbed steadily into the late afternoon, finishing near their best marks of the day. Friday's gains brought the S&P 500 and the Dow within 0.2% of their flat lines for the week and left the Nasdaq with a weekly gain of 1.3%.
The Employment Situation report for April was released on Friday morning, but didn't contain many surprises, reinforcing the notion that the Fed is on course for at least two more rate hikes this year. The report showed a lower-than-expected increase in nonfarm payrolls (164K actual vs 190K Briefing.com consensus), an in-line reading for average hourly earnings (+0.2% actual/consensus), and a lower-than-expected unemployment rate (3.9% actual vs 4.0% consensus).
Gains were broad-based on Friday, with all 11 S&P sectors settling in the green. The top-weighted technology sector (+2.0%) closed at the top of the day's leaderboard, but seven groups in total finished with gains of at least 1.0%. The energy and utilities sectors finished at the back of the pack, but still added 0.4%-0.5% apiece.
Several well-known consumer names rallied after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenues, including Pandora (P 6.89, +1.14), GoPro (GPRO 5.45, +0.49), and Shake Shack (SHAK 55.95, +8.54), which spiked between 9.9% and 19.8%, and CBS (CBS 53.17, +4.43), which climbed 9.1%. However, V.F. Corp (VFC 76.27, -2.19) -- which owns brands like The North Face, Lee, Wrangler, JanSport, and Dickies -- declined 2.8% despite also beating top and bottom line estimates.
U.S. Treasuries saw some intraday movement on Friday, but ended mostly flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note closing unchanged at 2.94%. Meanwhile, WTI crude futures jumped 1.9% to $69.72/bbl, their highest close since November 2014, and the U.S. Dollar Index climbed 0.2% to 92.45 -- a new 2018 high.
In geopolitics, two days of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China ended without a deal, as expected, but the two sides did agree to keep talking.
- Nasdaq Composite: +4.4% YTD
- Russell 2000: +2.0% YTD
- S&P 500: -0.4% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -1.9% YTD
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