US close: Dow Jones Industrials fails to clear 20,000-point mark

Wall Street´s main indices finished the session uniformly higher on Friday despite a slightly weaker than forecast jobs report for the month of December, but the 20,000-point level on the Dow Jones Industrials remained unbreached by the closing bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.32% to 19,963.80, the S&P 500 was up 0.39% or 7.98 points to 2,276.98 and the Nasdaq was 0.60% or 33.12 points higher to 5,521.06.

At one point in the session the Dow Jones Industrials rose as high as 19,999.63, later falling back but even so ending the week up by 1%, while the S&P 500 added 1.7%.

Real estate and healthcare stocks paced the weekly advance, rising by 3% and 2.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher as Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi started to cut supplies. West Texas Intermediate moved up by 26 cents to $53.99.

Non-farm payrolls rose 156,000 in December, well below analysts' estimates of 178,000. November was revised up to 204,000 jobs from a previous 178,000.

Last month’s figure brings total job growth to 2.2m in 2016, compared to 2.7m in 2015.

The jobless rate edged up to 4.7% in December from 4.6% in November and the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 7.5m. However, November's decline in the unemployment rate to 4.6% from 4.9% the prior month was mainly due to a fall in the labour force.

Average hourly earnings rose an annualised 2.9% in December, ahead of a projected 2.8% increase and following a 2.5% gain a month earlier. On the month, earnings edged up 0.4% compared to forecasts of 0.3% growth and November's 0.1% decline.

The labour force participation rate held at 62.7% and was unchanged over the year.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at ETX Capital, said: “Jobs numbers missed their mark but this slight slip up alone is certainly not enough to stop the Fed from raising rates this year. The data is a little positive, a little negative. US bond yields and the dollar index both firmed having slipped a little over the last 24 hours, while stock futures turned higher.

“The numbers – the last for the Obama presidency - probably matter a lot less than what is about to come in the shape of Donald Trump’s economic policies and how these play out with the Fed’s monetary policy. Today’s non-farm payroll numbers won’t make a whole lot of difference to that, other than confirm that he is taking over with the employment market in good health.”

Yields on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note rose eight basis points to 2.42% following Friday´s jobs data.

In corporate news, shares in restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday shed nearly a quarter of their value after it said late on Thursday that second-quarter losses widened as revenue declined.

Amgen rose after a US Federal judge ruled that Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had to take their competing cholesterol drug off the market as it infringed the company’s patent.

Wal-Mart fell 1.4% after the retail giant said than Sam’s Club CEO Rosalind Brewer is to retire from 1 February and will be replaced by John Furner.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.91 1.60%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $108.98 1.49%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $244.90 1.48%
Visa Inc. (V) $82.21 1.38%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $117.91 1.11%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $112.55 1.08%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $120.76 0.89%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $62.84 0.87%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $169.53 0.49%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.48 0.36%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.26 -2.53%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.26 -1.37%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $73.38 -0.58%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $116.30 -0.48%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $116.84 -0.40%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.48 -0.39%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $133.53 -0.28%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $88.50 -0.06%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $118.27 -0.05%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $85.03 -0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $141.49 5.15%
AES Corp. (AES) $11.82 3.59%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $31.05 3.47%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $50.77 3.19%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $143.61 3.18%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $139.98 3.13%
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $47.99 3.12%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $79.30 3.08%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $81.07 2.88%
Medtronic Plc (MDT) $72.87 2.88%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $358.68 -5.84%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $16.54 -5.70%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $35.42 -3.14%
AT&T Inc. (T) $41.32 -3.12%
Martin Marietta Mtrl (MLM) $219.84 -2.95%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $123.80 -2.86%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.26 -2.53%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $18.46 -2.48%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $7.01 -2.37%
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $44.72 -2.29%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $141.49 5.15%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $31.05 3.47%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $39.74 3.38%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $108.31 3.33%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $32.10 3.22%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $50.77 3.19%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $143.61 3.18%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $33.34 3.16%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $79.30 3.08%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $156.78 2.48%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $358.68 -5.84%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $4.56 -1.72%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.50 -1.69%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $30.47 -1.52%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $56.77 -1.46%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.49 -1.43%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $77.09 -1.24%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $45.62 -1.23%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $23.35 -1.14%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $180.11 -1.04%