US close: Stocks gain after jobs report, ahead of long weekend

Wall Street closed higher after the latest monthly jobs numbers left economists divided as to whether it took away from the Fed´s arguments to go ahead and hike rates at its 20-21 September meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39% or 72.66 points to close at 18,491.66 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.42% or 9.12 points to finish at 2,179.98 points and the Nasdaq rose 0.43% or 22.69 points to finish at 5,249.90.

Trading volumes were slightly lighter than usual ahead of the long Labour Day holiday, with the S&P 500 closing up by 0.5% for the week as a whole.

In parallel, crude oil prices jumped on renewed hopes of a deal to freeze output at OPEC’s informal meeting on 26-28 September. West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 99 cents to see the day out from the $44.44 per barrel level.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US advanced three basis points to close at 1.60%, with Fed funds futures assigning odds of 50.4% to an interest rate increase by the US Fed by the time of its December meeting, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange´s Fed Watch tool.

From a sector standpoint, the biggest gains were to be seen among the following industrial groups: Gold mining (2.78%), Marine transportation (2.72%), Mining (2-41%) and Mobile Telecommunications (2.04%).

US employers added 151,000 jobs in August, compared to expectations of 180,000, the Labor Department revealed. However, July's reading was revised to show a gain of 275,000 jobs, up from a previous estimate of 255,000.

The unemployment rate held at 4.9%, missing forecasts for a drop to 4.8%.

Average hourly wages rose 0.1% month-on-month in August, falling short of analysts' estimates for a 0.2% increase and marking a slowdown from growth of 0.3% in July. Compared to the same month a year ago, hourly wages edged up 2.4%, also below expectations for a 2.5% gain and compared to a 2.6% rise in July.

A rate increase in the Fed funds rate come December was still likely but August´s non-farm payrolls report would not convince officials at the US central bank to make a move in September. The rate of growth in average hourly earnings had slipped to a six-month low, while average weekly hours plumbed a two-and-a-half year low and a 3,100 decline in temporary hiring "wasn´t exactly positive either", said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

Elsewhere, data from the Commerce Department showed the US trade deficit narrowed in July as exports improved. The trade gap narrowed 11.6% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted $39.47bn, compared to expectations of $43.5bn.Imports dropped 0.8% while exports increased 1.9%.

On the company front, Lululemon Athletica shares crumbled after the yoga wear maker late Thursday provided a lacklustre forecast for the current quarter.

Smith & Wesson shares finished sharply lower after the gun maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Stock in Hewlett Packard edged higher following a report the company could be looking for a buyer of its software business.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $131.16 0.97%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $107.73 0.94%
Visa Inc. (V) $82.00 0.86%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $31.83 0.79%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $100.93 0.72%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.66 0.72%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $135.15 0.69%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.42 0.67%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $136.61 0.64%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.88 0.61%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $58.02 -0.89%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $72.50 -0.47%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $88.20 -0.12%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $159.55 0.01%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $62.98 0.13%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $57.67 0.14%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.08 0.17%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $94.42 0.17%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $106.93 0.20%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $119.32 0.20%

S&P 500 - Risers

VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $79.02 5.63%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $6.60 5.60%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $56.49 5.51%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $40.47 3.58%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $11.98 3.28%
Apache Corp. (APA) $51.29 3.01%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $40.52 2.76%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $24.20 2.63%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $15.49 2.51%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $313.59 2.47%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Church Dwight Co Inc. (CHD) $49.97 -49.90%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $46.39 -4.74%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $39.97 -4.65%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $72.42 -4.19%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $70.01 -3.71%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UA) $38.56 -2.99%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $23.92 -2.57%
VF Corp. (VFC) $60.03 -2.49%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $173.11 -2.25%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $18.90 -2.22%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $31.97 3.13%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $32.84 2.88%
Liberty Media Corporation - Class A (LMCA) $21.88 2.53%
Liberty Media Corporation - Series C (LMCK) $21.69 2.50%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $313.59 2.47%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $30.90 2.35%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $47.29 2.25%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $51.78 2.21%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $83.46 2.08%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $33.69 1.60%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Mylan Inc. (MYL) $39.97 -4.65%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $35.61 -3.89%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $173.11 -2.25%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $47.90 -2.17%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $19.82 -2.03%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $123.67 -1.56%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $197.78 -1.49%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $84.15 -1.42%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $388.64 -1.21%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $62.53 -0.98%