US markets end mostly in green ahead of jobs report

07 Feb 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in green with Nasdaq settling higher by around 100 points ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. The report, which is expected to show employment climbed by 170,000 jobs in January after jumping by 256,000 jobs in December, could impact the outlook for interest rates. Traders took a note of report that the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended February 1st. The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 219,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 208,000. Street had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 213,000 from the 207,000 originally reported for the previous week.

On the sectoral front, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets. Banking stocks moved notably higher over the course of the session, however, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.5 percent to its best closing level in almost two years. Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Steel stocks also turned in a strong performance, while energy stocks were under pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Nasdaq surged 99.66 points or 0.51 percent to 19,791.99 and S&P 500 was up by 22.09 points or 0.36 percent to 6,083.57, while Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125.65 points or 0.28 percent to 44,747.63. 


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