The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 34,746.25 on Friday with a loss of 8.69 points or -0.03%. The S&P 500 closed at 4,391.34 for a loss of 8.42 points or -0.19%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 14,579.54 for a loss of 74.48 points or -0.51%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 18.77 for a loss of 0.77 points or -3.94%.
For the year, the S&P 500 is up 16.9%, the Nasdaq has a gain of approximately 12.6% and the Dow Jones is up around 13.2%.
Friday’s market movers
U.S. stocks traded lower Friday, with the September jobs report showing a non-farm payrolls increase far below forecasts. Data from the jobs report included the following:
- Non-farm payrolls increase of 194,000 following 366,000 and below the estimate of 475,000.
- Unemployment rate 4.8%, down from 5.2% and below the forecast of 5.1%.
- Private non-farm payrolls increase of 317,000 following 332,000 and below the estimate of 445,000.
- Manufacturing payrolls were up 26,000 following 31,000.
- Government payrolls were down 123,000 following an increase of 34,000.
- Average hourly earnings increased 0.6% in September and 4.6% year over year.
- Average weekly hours were 34.8, up from 34.6.
- Participation rate decreased to 61.6% from 61.7%.
Friday’s losses, however, did not put the major indexes down for the week. The Dow Jones gained 1.2% for the week, reporting its largest weekly increase since June. The S&P 500 ended with a weekly gain of 0.8%. The Nasdaq had a weekly gain of 0.1%.
Throughout the week, investors were watching energy prices, as they continued to reach highs. Natural gas prices reached record highs, while U.S. oil prices were around $80 per barrel. During the week, the Senate also passed a bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling. The bill is now with the House of Representatives.
Next week, investors will be watching the beginning of the third-quarter earnings season. Starting out the earnings calendar will be JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Financial), Bank of America (BAC, Financial), Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial), Morgan Stanley (MS, Financial), Wells Fargo (WFC, Financial) and Citigroup (C, Financial). In the banking sector, analysts will be looking out for lending reports as a signal for economic activity.
On the economic calendar and in other news:
- August wholesale inventories increased 1.2%.
- The Baker Hughes weekly oil rig count showed an increase of five rigs in the U.S., an increase of two rigs in Canada and an increase of 10 rigs internationally.
- Tesla (TSLA, Financial) is moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas.
Across the board:
- Speed Commerce (SPDC, Financial) climbed 900%.
- ChemoCentryx (CCXI, Financial) increased 95.97%.
- Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR, Financial) gained 44.53%.
- Baidu (BIDU, Financial) was up 3.54%.
- APA Corp. (APA, Financial) swelled 6.84%.
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) rose 2.28%.
- The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE, Financial) gained 3.12%.
- The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE, Financial) was down 1.09%.
- Walmart (WMT, Financial) gained 0.30% after it announced holiday plans for a direct-to-home wine delivery service.
- The 10-year Treasury ended with a yield of 1.612%.
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,233.09 for a loss of 17.00 points or -0.76%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,358.65 for a loss of 8.04 points or -0.59%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,728.72 for a loss of 162.49 points or -1.09%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 11,200.16 for a loss of 37.63 points or -0.33%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,690.22 for a loss of 15.04 points or -0.56%; the S&P 100 at 2,019.05 for a loss of 2.64 points or -0.13%; the Nasdaq 100 at 14,820.75 for a loss of 76.38 points or -0.51%; the Russell 3000 at 2,607.10 for a loss of 7.21 points or 0.28%; the Russell 1000 at 2,463.85 for a loss of 5.97 points or -0.24%; the Wilshire 5000 at 45,637.04 for a loss of 116.56 points or -0.25%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 842.18 for a loss of 1.00 points or -0.12%.
