US close: S&P 500 ends week at record despite equity outflows, selling in commodities

Wall Street's main stockmarket gauges ended higher on Friday after what some economists labelled a "solid" jobs report for the month of April, with the S&P 500 notching up fresh record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up by 0.56% to 21,006.94, while the S&P 500 added 0.41% to 2,399.29 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.42% to close at 6,100.96. Over the week as a whole, the S&P 500 added 0.6%.

Gains over the latest five-day stretch came despite data showing investors were moving out of equities and against a backdrop of the heaviest selling in commodity markets seen in months.

Over the week to 4 May, outflows from global equity funds reached $3.6bn, whilst inflows to bonds were running at $9.7bn. However, strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch were in fact optimistic, telling clients that the ongoing mix of maximum central bank liquidity and low economic growth in fact pointed to the possibility of a repeat of the 1999 'tech mania'.

Nonetheless, they noted that "mania for equities [is] significantly lower today than 1999-2000".

Meanwhile, oil prices steadied, having fallen sharply in overnight trading. West Texas Intermediate tacked on 71 cents to close at $46.22 on the NYMEX, despite data from Baker Hughes showing that the number of active US rigs drilling for oil rose by six last week to hit 703.

Commenting on the large drops seen in copper and oil prices over the past week, Barclays Research told clients they did not foreshadow a recession. With regards to the latter, it expected a more constructive backdrop as lower prices trigerred both a demand and supply-side response.

Jobs growth in the States stages a comeback

US non-farm payrolls jumped by 211,000 last month (consensus: 193,000), after an underwhelming gain of 79,000 in March, as the rate of unemployment ticked lower to 4.4% from 4.5%.

However, wage growth fell short of the consensus forecast, rising by 2.5% year-on-year, versus analysts' projections calling for a rise of 2.7%.

"On net, this report is solid but does not change our fundamental view of activity in the economy; the report does, however, increase our confidence that the soft patch in Q1 is over.

"Revisions to past months' data show less wage growth y/y than we had anticipated. Wage inflation simply is not taking root in the economy. We have no doubt that labor markets are tight and that they continue to tighten further but that pressure is failing to manifest in higher wage growth," said Michael Gapen and Rob Martin at Barclays Research.

To take note of, overnight the US House of Representatives approved a bill partially repealing ex-President Obama's landmark healthcare reform bill, possibly paving the way for tax reforms by the current administration towards the end of 2018.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note ended off by one basis point at 2.35%.

In corporate news, shares in tech-giant IBM came under selling pressure after Warren Buffet told CNBC he had lost confidence in the investment, prompting him to sell a third of his stake.

Herbalife shares rocketed after smashing past analysts' forecasts for its first quarter numbers, with earnings per share printing at $1.24 (consensus: $0.89) while revenues came in at $1.1bn (consensus: $1.05bn).

Cigna was on the frontfoot after the health insurer posted better-than-expected first-quarter results ahead of the opening bell.

Videogame developer Activision Blizzard rose after its quarterly earnings late on Thursday surpassed expectations but it reported fewer users.

From a sector standpoint, the biggest gains were seen in: Coal (5.78%), Real Estate services (4.13%) and Marine transportation (3.08%).

Dow Jones - Risers

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $81.14 2.98%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.69 1.77%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $148.96 1.66%
Boeing Co. (BA) $185.01 1.06%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $105.79 0.94%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $63.97 0.93%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.99 0.74%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.39 0.61%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $155.73 0.56%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $82.02 0.47%

Dow Jones - Fallers

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $155.05 -2.51%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.95 -0.95%
Visa Inc. (V) $92.09 -0.57%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $123.51 -0.35%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $87.00 -0.11%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.82 -0.08%
3M Co. (MMM) $199.40 -0.06%
American Express Co. (AXP) $78.32 -0.01%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $174.12 0.06%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $86.50 0.06%

S&P 500 - Risers

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $14.97 12.13%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $11.18 8.12%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $5.46 6.43%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $28.42 4.99%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $7.35 4.70%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $60.40 4.10%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.22 4.07%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $120.30 3.86%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $73.29 3.62%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $58.22 3.50%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fluor Corp. (FLR) $48.18 -4.78%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $155.05 -2.51%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $262.15 -2.40%
Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $84.44 -1.93%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $122.14 -1.75%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $122.41 -1.65%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $52.13 -1.38%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.84 -1.33%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $34.51 -1.32%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $180.20 -1.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $308.35 4.36%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.22 4.07%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $334.78 3.78%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $47.45 3.31%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $21.14 3.12%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $61.60 2.56%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $20.73 2.42%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $43.55 2.28%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $79.76 2.24%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $52.76 1.93%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $94.23 -3.63%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $262.15 -2.40%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $122.41 -2.07%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $122.14 -1.75%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $122.41 -1.65%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $52.13 -1.38%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.84 -1.33%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $180.20 -1.23%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $429.00 -1.22%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $128.82 -1.02%