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US STOCKS-Wall St hits highs as slowing job growth spurs stimulus bets

Published 04/12/2020, 20:30
Updated 04/12/2020, 20:36
© Reuters.
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(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* U.S. labor market slowing as COVID-19 pandemic rages
* Energy shares bolstered by rise in crude prices
* U.S. 10-yr yield hits highest since March, supporting
financials
* Boeing shares fall as company cuts 787 jetliner production
* Indexes up: Dow 0.56%, S&P 0.6%, Nasdaq 0.48%

(Updates with afternoon trading)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Dec 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose to
all-time highs on Friday as data showing the slowest U.S. jobs
growth in six months raised investors' expectations for a new
fiscal relief bill to help revive the coronavirus-hit economy.
So-called "cyclical" stocks seen as particularly sensitive
to the economy, such as energy .SPNY and industrials
.SPLRCI , lead the gains as most S&P 500 sectors rose.
"There's clearly a cyclical rally, so it's got to be
attributable to rising optimism on the stimulus front," said
David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in
Boston.
The Labor Department's closely watched report showed nonfarm
payrolls increased by 245,000 jobs in November, below
economists' expectations of 469,000 jobs and the smallest gain
since the labor recovery started in May. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said the November U.S. jobs
report underlined the need for urgent action on coronavirus
relief but that any package passed by Congress now would not
suffice and that more would be needed in January. "The bad news of the weakening jobs picture is potentially
good news for investors because it means that the stimulus bill
is much more likely to take place in a fairly short time frame,"
said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in
North Carolina.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 167.35 points,
or 0.56%, to 30,136.87, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 22 points, or
0.60%, to 3,688.72 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 59.79
points, or 0.48%, to 12,436.98.
The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR hit its highest
level since March at over 0.98%, helping support financial
shares .SPSY which are highly sensitive to interest rates.
Energy shares were also bolstered by gains in oil prices,
with shares of Diamondback Energy Inc FANG.O up 11.6% and
Occidental Petroleum OXY.N up 10.7%. Utilities .SPLRCU lagged the most among major sectors,
falling 1.5%.
Positive coronavirus vaccine updates from drugmakers have
raised hopes for an economic recovery next year and overshadowed
worries over a surge in U.S. infections, setting the major
indexes up for another week of gains after the benchmark S&P 500
surged over 10% in November.
In company news, Boeing BA.N shares fell 1.9% as a top
company executive said the company is reducing production of its
787 Dreamliner for the fourth time in 18 months. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.18-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.55-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 47 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 199 new highs and 6 new lows.

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