Wall Street shaves some losses, closes worst week in last 10
January 5, 2024
0 6 minutes read
NEW YORK — Wall Street closed its worst week since Halloween with a listless Friday after reports showed workers are getting bigger raises but key parts of the economy still don’t look like they’re overheating.
The S&P 500 rose 8.56 points, or 0.2%, to 4,697.24 after drifting between small gains and losses through the day. It capped the first down week for the index in the last 10, after it roared into 2024 on hopes that inflation and the overall economy are cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.77 points, or 0.1%, to 37.466.11 and inched closer to its record set earlier in the week. The Nasdaq composite added 13.77 points, or 0.1%, to 14,524.07.
Treasury yields in the bond market climbed after the latest monthly jobs report showed U.S. employers unexpectedly accelerated their hiring last month. Average hourly pay for workers also rose, though economists forecast a dip.
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Such strong numbers are good news for workers, and they should keep the economy humming. That’s a positive for corporate profits, a main factor that sets prices for stocks.
Wall Street’s worry is the strong data could also convince the Fed upward pressure remains on inflation, which could mean the Fed will hold interest rates high for longer. High interest rates hurt financial markets.
A report later in the morning showed that growth for finance, real estate and other companies in the U.S. services industries slowed by more than economists expected last month. After that report, traders quickly built bets back up for the Fed to begin cutting rates in March.
After climbing as high as 4.09% immediately after the jobs report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to back to 3.96% following the weaker-than-expected report on services industries. It eventually pulled back to 4.04%, compared with 4% late Thursday.
On Wall Street, Constellation Brands climbed 2.1% after the seller of Corona and Modelo beers in the U.S. reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Travel-related companies also were strong and clawed back more of their losses from earlier in the week. Carnival rose 2.8%, and American Airlines gained 3.9%.
On the losing end was Apple, whose 0.4% dip Friday sent it to a 5.9% loss for the week, its worst since September.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe after data showed inflation rose to 2.9% in December. The rebound after seven monthly declines fueled debate over how soon the European Central Bank could cut its own interest rates.
Indexes also were lower across much of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was an exception and rose 0.3%.
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