US markets jump on encouraging jobs report

04 May 2013 Evaluate

The US markets rallied on Friday, with the Dow industrials soaring above 15,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 index above 1,600, as Wall Street celebrated the April jobs report. The pace of US hiring partly snapped back in April after a surprising dip in March, suggesting that job creation is holding steady despite a raft of signs pointing to a third straight midyear slowdown in the economy. The Labor Department stated that the US created a net 165,000 jobs in April and the hiring was stronger in March and February than initially reported. The acceleration in hiring also nudged the unemployment rate down to 7.5% from 7.6% in March. That’s the lowest level since December 2008. Besides, a key index showed the nation’s services industry expanded in April, though at a weaker rate than anticipated. The Institute for Supply Management’s services index weakened to 53.1% from 54.4% in March. Separately, factory orders fell 4% in March, weaker than expected, the Commerce Department reported. Orders for durable goods were revised to a 5.8% decline from the prior estimate of a 5.7% decrease. New orders for nondurable goods decreased 2.4%.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank stated that the labor market conditions are affected by a wide variety of factors outside the Federal Reserve’s control. Lacker is an opponent of the Fed’s current $85 billion per month asset purchase program. Lacker stated that the program hasn’t worked to improve growth and just raises the risks associated with the eventual tightening, or exit, when it’s time.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 142.38 points or 0.96 percent at 14,974.00, the S&P 500 gained 16.83 points or 1.05 percent to 1,614.42 and the Nasdaq jumped 38.01 points or 1.14 percent to 3,378.63.

Indian ADRs closed mixed on Friday, ICICI Bank was down 1.57%, HDFC Bank was down 1.39% and Tata Motors was down by 0.55%. On the flip side, Infosys was up by 0.82% and Wirpo was up 0.23%.

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