Closing Market Summary: Stocks End Mixed Week on Upbeat Note
Equities climbed throughout the session despite showing early signs of a potential continuation to yesterday's weakness. The S&P 500 advanced 1.3% while the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 outperformed with respective gains of 1.6% and 1.9%. Before today's opening bell, it was announced that nonfarm payrolls increased by 204,000 in October (consensus 100,000). The immediate reaction was consistent with increased expectations of tapering sooner rather than later as bonds and futures fell to lows. However, equity futures returned into positive territory by the opening bell while Treasuries settled on their lows with the 10-yr yield up 15 basis points at 2.75%. The dollar also strengthened, sending the Dollar Index higher by 0.5% to 81.24.
Stocks rallied with the financial sector (+2.3%) paving the way after the group struggled to keep pace with the S&P earlier in the week. All major banks posted solid gains, and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 53.96, +2.31) surged 4.5%. Other cyclical sectors also displayed strength, but only financials added more than 2.0%. Meanwhile, the materials space was the second-best performer (+1.8%) as steelmakers provided support. The Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 49.37, +0.81) gained 1.7%. Miners posted modest gains as the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 24.28, +0.14) added 0.6% despite weakness in gold. The yellow metal fell 1.8% to $1284.60 per troy ounce. Elsewhere, the technology sector (+1.1%) was the only cyclical group unable finish ahead of the broader market as top components traded in mixed fashion. Apple (AAPL 520.56, +8.07) and Cisco Systems (CSCO 23.51, +0.40) gained 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively, while IBM (IBM 179.99, -0.01) and Intel (INTC 24.09, +0.03) ended little changed. Yesterday, the Nasdaq was pressured by biotechnology and momentum names, but both groups displayed relative strength today. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 204.18, +6.36) climbed 3.2% while Priceline.com (PCLN 1073.20, +50.31) paced the gains among momentum names after beating on earnings. Also of note, Twitter (TWTR 41.65, -3.25) endured a forgettable second-day of trading after Hudson Square initiated coverage of the stock with a ‘Sell' rating. The social media stock tumbled 7.2%. Trading volume was well above average as 823 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Taking another look through today's data, with the exception of government, every sector reported positive payroll gains in October. That included a 44,400 increase in retail employees. It has been reported that retailers started hiring earlier than normal for the holiday season. Private payrolls added 212,000 new jobs in October, up from 150,000 in September. That was the biggest monthly gain since February when 319,000 jobs were added. The consensus expected only 110,000 new private jobs. The average workweek remained at 34.4 hours and hourly wages increased by 0.1%. Combined with the solid increase in private payrolls, aggregate wages increased 0.3%. That is enough to keep consumption growth moving ahead. The unemployment rate increased to 7.3% in October from 7.2% in September, as expected. Separately, the November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 72.0 in the preliminary reading from 73.2 in October. The consensus expected the index to increase to 75.0. With the government shutdown over and the economy returning to its normal, albeit weak, trends, it was expected that consumer sentiment would return to September (77.5) or August (82.1) levels.
There is no economic data scheduled to be reported on Monday.
o Nasdaq +29.8% YTD o Russell 2000 +29.5% YTD o S&P 500 +24.2% YTD o DJIA +20.3% YTD