US markets end higher on Friday

03 Feb 2024 Evaluate

Magnifying their previous session’s gains, the US markets ended higher on Friday amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and online retail giant Amazon (AMZN). Shares of Meta are soared by 20.3 percent after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results, announced its first-ever quarterly dividend and authorized a $50 billion share buyback. Amazon also spiked by 7.9 percent after reporting fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. On the sectoral front, retail stocks saw substantial strength on the day, with the strong jobs data generating optimism about the outlook for consumer spending. Considerable strength was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. 

On the data front, a closely watched report from the Labor Department showed much stronger than expected job growth in the month of January. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 353,000 jobs in January compared to street estimates for an increase of about 180,000 jobs. The report also showed significantly stronger than previously reported job growth in December, with employment surging by 333,000 jobs during the month compared to the jump of 216,000 jobs that had been reported. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate in January came in unchanged from the previous month at 3.7 percent. Street had expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.8 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.58 points or 0.35 percent to 38,654.42, Nasdaq gained 267.31 points or 1.74 percent to 15,628.95 and S&P 500 edged up 52.42 points or 1.07 percent to 4,958.61.

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