Stock Market News for February 4, 2013 - Market News
February 04 2013 - 4:36AM
Zacks
Encouraging non-farm payroll data
boosted investor sentiment and lifted benchmarks higher on Friday.
Positive sentiments were also fueled by encouraging reports on the
manufacturing sector and construction spending. These factors
combined to propel the blue-chip index to its highest level in more
than five years. All ten sectors of the S&P 500 industry groups
finished in the green with the financial sector emerging as the
biggest gainer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) gained 1.1% to close the day at 14,009.79. The S&P 500
rose 1% to finish yesterday’s trading session at 1,513.17. The
tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.2% to end at
3,179.10. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 9.7%
to settle at 12.90. Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock
Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were roughly 6.35
billion shares, lower than the daily average of 6.45 billion shares
in 2012. Advancing stocks outnumbered the decliners on the NYSE.
For 74% stocks that advanced, 23% declined.
Jobs data provided investors with
much needed respite. Following weak initial claims data and a
disappointing GDP report last week, sentiments were quite low. But
jobs data released on Friday helped the S&P 500 finish in the
green for the fifth consecutive week. The index is only 60 points
behind its highest intraday level of 1,576.09. The Dow finished its
trading session on Friday above the 14,000 mark for the first time
in five years and is 1.1% below its highest level achieved in
October 2007.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported that non-farm payroll employments rose by
157,000 in the month of January. This was slightly below the
consensus estimate of 158,000. According to the report, the
increase in January non-farm payroll employments was boosted by
positive contributions from retail trade, construction and health
care. However, the unemployment rate increased marginally by 0.1%
to 7.9%. The Labor Department also said 127,000 more jobs were
added in November and December than initially reported.
The manufacturing sector also added
to positive investor sentiment on Friday. According to the
Institute of Supply Management, the PMI stood at 53.1%, up 2.9%
from December’s data beating the consensus estimate of 50.4. The
main growth drivers among this index were new orders, production
and employment. New orders grew 3.6% to 53.3, production rose 1% to
53.6 while the employment index increased 2.1% to 54.0. The U.S.
manufacturing index was at a nine-month high.
According to the U.S. Department of
Commerce, construction spending increased 0.9% to $885.0 billion in
December versus $876.9 billion in November. On an annual basis in
2012, construction spending was $850.2 billion compared with $778.2
billion spent in 2011. Private construction spending rose 2.0% to
$614.9 billion. Public construction spending increased 1.4% to
$270.1 billion.
Among earnings results, shares of
Perrigo Company (NASDAQ:PRGO) surged 4.8% after the company’s
second quarter earnings beat the Street’s expectations. According
to Thomson Reuter’s data, 252 S&P 500 companies have posted
their earnings, among which 69% of them have reported earnings
above the Street’s expectations.
The financial sector was the
biggest gainer among the S&P 500 industry groups and the
Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) gained 1.3%. Stocks such as Bank
of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM),
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and
State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) increased 3.5%, 1.7%, 1.4%,
2.0% and 1.3%, respectively.
BANK OF AMER CP (BAC): Free Stock Analysis Report
CITIGROUP INC (C): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report
JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report
PERRIGO COMPANY (PRGO): Free Stock Analysis Report
STATE ST CORP (STT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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