Healthcare, energy and technology companies accounted for much of the broad rally, which extended the S&P 500’s run of consecutive gains to seven days. The index also notched its second straight weekly gain. Small-company stocks did better Friday than the rest of the market.A strong rebound in hiring, which eased worries that the U.S. economy is slowing too sharply, helped put traders in a buying mood.
The S&P 500 rose 13.35 points, or 0.5%, to 2,892.74 on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average ticked up 40.36 points, or 0.2%, to 26,424.99. The Nasdaq composite climbed 46.91 points, or 0.6%, to 7,938.69.The S&P 500 climbed every day this week, though most of the gains were only modest, and it now sits just 1.4% away from its most recent record high, which was set in September. The index has been adding more gains since rising 13.
In prior market scares, investors saw strong data as bad news because it might encourage the Fed to raise rates more aggressively. The mentality flipped this year after the Fed’s calming words. Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report a nearly 4% drop in earnings per share compared with a year earlier. That would be the first decline since the spring of 2016.The expected drop in profits is due almost entirely to weaker profit margins. Analysts are forecasting that revenue grew nearly 5% for S&P 500 companies during the quarter. Companies are keeping a smaller slice of revenue as profit than they were a year ago, analysts say.
On Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 2.54% in the minutes following the jobs report’s release, up from 2.51% late Thursday. But the gains evaporated, and it slid to 2.49%.
Trump 😁