US close: S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs after October non-farm payrolls
Trading on Wall Street finished the week on a very strong note, with surpisingly strong readings on the US jobs market and Chinese manufacturing sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs.
In the background, there were positive headlines regarding the current state of the ongoing US-China trade talks and a second round of tax cuts in the States.
And in comments to Bloomberg TV, Federal Reserve vice-president, Richard Clarida, said the US economy was in a "very good place" although the balance of risks were still tilted somewhat to the downside.
Against that backdrop, the Dow Jones Industrials rose 1.11% to 27,347.36, alongside an advance of 0.97% to 3,066.91 on the S&P 500 and of 1.13% for the Nasdaq Composite to 8,386.40.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Board Options Exchange VIX volatility index retreated by 6.96% to 12.30 and front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rallied, with the December contract putting on 3.73% to $56.20 a barrel on the NYMEX.
According to the Department of Commerce, US non-farm payrolls rose by 128,000 in October (consensus: 85,000) and the readings for the preceding two months were revised up by a combined 98,000, leaving the trend for the past three months at a hefty 170,000 if the impact of a strike at GM in October is stripped out.
Commenting on the latest jobs numbers, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said that the "future is much darker", what with surveys pointing to a slowdown in non-farm payrolls growth to around a 50,000 pace by the turn of the year.
However, Shepherdson added: "[the surveys] might be wrong - shifts in sentiment don’t always translate into shifts in action - but we aren’t willing to assume that job gains will continue to trend at anything like 170K."
For his part, Mickey Levy at Berenberg Capital Markets said: "This Employment Report reflects the overall health of the economy, despite weakness in the industrial sector stemming from weak global conditions. [...] The favorable performance of labor markets reflects and contributes to rising product demand, lifting the supply and demand for labor, and keeps worker and consumer confidence high."
The mood in financial markets was also underpinned by data out of China earlier, which according to Freya Beamish at Pantheon Macroeconomics, while "surpising", appeared to show that "the trade truce seems to have boosted confidence, where the official gauge remained oblivious."
Nevertheless, the Institute for Supply Management's closely-followed manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell short of forecasts, bouncing back from a fall to 47.8 in September to reach 48.3 in October (consensus: 49,0) and continued to point to diminishing levels of activity in America's factories.
Sino-US trade relations remained in focus as well after White House national economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said that the phase-one trade talks with Beijing were going well.
In corporate news, Pinterest fell 17% following the release of disappointing third-quarter results overnight.
Going the othwer way, stock in Fitbit surged 16% after agreeing to be acquired by Google parent Alphabet in a $2.1bn transaction.
Shares of Exxon Mobil put in a strong showing even after the company posted a drop in third-quarter profit and revenue and Chevron managed to reverse early losses triggered by its latest financial.
Dow Jones - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $144.49 4.85%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $57.38 4.75%
3M Co. (MMM) $170.09 3.09%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $69.60 3.00%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $255.82 2.84%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $127.80 2.31%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $132.75 2.18%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $146.68 2.16%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $217.39 1.88%
American Express Co. (AXP) $119.14 1.59%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $84.94 -1.98%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $193.94 -1.40%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $47.03 -1.01%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $53.90 -0.97%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $131.20 -0.64%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $123.87 -0.51%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $89.18 -0.41%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.72 -0.26%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $252.21 -0.19%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $60.37 -0.17%
S&P 500 - Risers
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $97.22 20.23%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $18.59 15.39%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $90.13 10.51%
Apache Corp. (APA) $23.81 9.93%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $98.30 7.95%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $74.69 7.67%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $40.18 7.15%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.52 7.13%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $18.31 6.92%
Parker-Hannifin Corp. (PH) $195.90 6.76%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $185.30 -24.23%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $116.90 -2.87%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $276.87 -2.86%
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) $66.81 -2.61%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $143.07 -2.59%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $36.71 -2.42%
L3Harris Technologies Inc. (LHX) $201.41 -2.38%
Ball Corp (BLL) $68.36 -2.30%
CME Group Inc. (CME) $201.51 -2.06%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $99.65 -2.03%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $98.30 7.95%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $57.38 4.75%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $53.83 4.22%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $83.58 3.90%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $109.38 3.78%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $37.15 3.37%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $270.60 3.29%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $60.55 3.22%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $96.99 2.86%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $72.27 2.85%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $490.00 -6.04%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $116.90 -2.87%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $276.87 -2.86%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $9.28 -2.73%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $83.21 -1.60%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $95.30 -1.14%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $47.03 -1.01%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $96.44 -0.89%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,032.02 -0.82%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $52.03 -0.80%