NEW YORK, June 5 — US stocks climbed yesterday, led by technology shares, after a tepid US monthly jobs report relieved investor concerns the Federal Reserve might rein in monetary stimulus soon.
US employers increased hiring in May and raised wages as they competed for workers. But the nonfarm payrolls increase of 559,000 jobs was below the 650,000 forecast of economists polled by Reuters.
Investors were concerned that a robust jobs report that pointed to rising inflation could prompt the Fed to pull back on stimulus put in place during the pandemic.
“It keeps pressure off the Fed and will enable them to keep their low interest rate policy in place longer and take more of a wait-and-see attitude,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management. “The opportunity to keep rates low is good news for risk takers.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 179.35 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 34,756.39, the S&P 500 gained 37.04 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 4,229.89 and the Nasdaq Composite added 199.98 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 13,814.49.
All three indexes rose for the week, with the Nasdaq posting its third straight weekly gain.
The heavyweight S&P 500 tech sector was the best-performing group yesterday, rising 1.9 per cent, as longer-dated US Treasury yields fell.
Tech and other growth stocks are seen as particularly vulnerable if inflation drives up bond yields and more heavily discounts the value of future cash flows. The Russell 1000 growth index gained 1.4 per cent against a 0.4 per cent rise for the counterpart Russell value index, as the financials sector , a key value group, lagged, rising just 0.2 per cent.
“It’s just a risk-on trade because the market believes rates are going to stay lower for longer,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
Overall, the S&P 500 is up 12.6 per cent this year and near record-high levels.
The wild rides for so-called “meme stocks” kept investors’ attention, with AMC Entertainment Holdings shares falling 6.7 per cent but rising over 80 per cent for the week.
Billionaire William Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings dropped 11.9 per cent after news it was in talks to buy 10 per cent of Universal Music Group.
Next week, investors will watch Washington for clues on whether an outsized rally in shares of companies that would benefit from President Joe Biden’s proposed US$1.7 trillion (RM7 trillion) infrastructure plan has more room to run.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.54-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 20 new lows.
About 9.9 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, below the 10.7 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. — Reuters
