On Friday, stocks mostly went up mainly due to the strong January jobs report and impressive company earnings. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose by 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped 0.2%, or 70 points, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained almost 1%. The January jobs report surpassed expectations as the economy added 353,000 jobs, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 3.7%. Despite signs of softening in other data earlier in the week, the strong labor market could once again affect the Fed’s rate path, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that a strong labor market is a positive sign. Additionally, strong earnings reports from tech giants Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) led to gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Amazon saw a 6% increase, while Meta surged by 20%. However, Apple (AAPL) disappointed despite its earnings beat on Thursday, with concerns about its business in China leading to a more than 1% decline during the morning session.
For the latest stock trends during morning trading on Friday, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and AbbVie were some of the trending tickers. Meta surged with the announcement of a new dividend and a $50 billion increase in its stock buyback program. Amazon also experienced a 6% increase following its fourth quarter results that exceeded expectations, while Apple’s fall was attributed to declining sales in China. Meanwhile, AbbVie rose nearly 3% after surpassing revenue expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter and raising its sales outlook for two of its biggest immunology drugs.
During morning trading, Wall Street showed little change, with the S&P 500 rising by 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping by 0.4% or 150 points, and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 0.5%. The strong January jobs report and standout earnings from Meta and Amazon were the main factors being considered.
The US labor market made a notable recovery as every major sector of the US economy has now fully recovered from losses seen during the pandemic. The Leisure & Hospitality sector added 11,000 jobs in January, completing the recovery from the pandemic-related losses, as per Joseph Politano from the Apricitas Economics newsletter.
The US economy added 353,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in January, almost double the 185,000 expected by economists. Additionally, wages exceeded estimates, with average hourly earnings rising by 0.6% over the previous month and 4.6% over the last year. The number of new roles created in November and December also saw an increase by 126,000 after revisions to the jobs reports of those months. The benchmark revisions revealed that there were 187,000 fewer jobs added to the economy throughout the year than previously announced, making a rate cut by the Federal Reserve seem unlikely based on the recent data and comments from Powell.
The week’s market and economic events came to a close with the focus on the January jobs report and the aftermath of significant tech company earnings, with strong performances from Meta and Amazon. Apple, however, faced a decline due to concerns about its business in China while the Nasdaq was seen to surge more than 1%.
