US open: Cyclicals, dollar push higher after US jobs report
Wall Street made another push higher with cyclicals to the fore stoked by what some economists described as another "solid" reading on the state of the US jobs market.
At 1613 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was up by 0.11% or 24.07 points to 22,048.65, while the S&P 500 was adding 0.16% or 3.93 points to 2,476.09 with the Nasdaq Composite rising by 0.16% or 3.78 points to 2,475.80 alongside it.
Yet the Industrials was trading off a fresh record high of 22,089.05 as the greenback bounced back, with the US dollar spot index rising by nearly a full percentage point to 93.62.
Pacing gains at the end of the week were: Automobiles (1.69%), Banks (1.57%), Paper (1.17%), Retail REITs (1.13%) and Investment Services (1.11%).
US companies took another 209,000 staff onboard in July, according to the Department of Labor.
Separate data showed the country's rate of unemployment dropping by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.3% and average hourly earnings rising by 0.3% month-on-month.
Commenting on the release, Michael Gapen from Barclays Research told clients: " It has been our long-held view that employment gains would remain sufficient to keep the unemployment rate in a downward trend, as has been the case in prior expansions. The July data are consistent with this view."
On a more critical note, in remarks to Bloomberg TV, Mohammed El-Erian said salary growth in the US had been too low, despite gains in employment.
He called for the White House to take action on infrastructure, tax reform and debt, saying the Trump administration could not rely on the central bank.
In other economic news, America's foreign trade deficit shrank by 5.9% month-on-month in June to reach -$43.6bn (consensus: -$45.5bn), the Department of Commerce reported.
Still ahead on the economic calendar, Baker Hughes's weekly oil rig count data were set for release later in the session.
Mergers and acquisitions-related news was figuring prominently in the headlines, atypically so for a Friday.
"History tells me not to give up as yet, but the data has been disappointing. We are going through a soft patch, and it seems to be a prolonged soft patch," he said.
Stock in United Therapeutics was up by 7.58% on a report that GlaxoSmithKline might join in a bidding war for its smaller rival.
ADP on the other hand was 0.55% lower on news that billionaire activist investors Bill Ackman had amassed an 8% holding in the payrolls processor as part of his bid to foist change on the board.
GoPro surged after its quarterly earnings and outlook late on Thursday beat expectations, while Weight Watchers International also racked up impressive gains after better-than-expected earnings.
Health insurer Cigna was on the back foot despite posting better-than-expected profit and sales figures, albeit following a sharp run-up in the share price thus far in 2017.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway due to post its latest quarterly numbers after the close.
Dow Jones - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $93.55 1.14%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.74 0.93%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $225.66 0.75%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $156.53 0.62%
American Express Co. (AXP) $86.06 0.61%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $81.79 0.57%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $151.49 0.46%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $114.06 0.44%
Visa Inc. (V) $100.95 0.36%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $195.41 0.33%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $107.84 -1.17%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.22 -0.74%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $153.65 -0.69%
Boeing Co. (BA) $236.82 -0.60%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $80.55 -0.40%
3M Co. (MMM) $206.88 -0.36%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $120.81 -0.24%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $63.37 -0.24%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $80.37 -0.15%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $133.16 -0.14%
S&P 500 - Risers
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $39.18 3.62%
Keycorp (KEY) $18.51 2.66%
Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $92.77 2.62%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $36.51 2.27%
L Brands Inc (LB) $42.53 2.24%
Westrock Company (WRK) $57.81 2.16%
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) $35.96 2.10%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $74.70 2.09%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $14.84 2.06%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $24.86 2.01%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $31.12 -11.26%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $39.35 -10.29%
PerkinElmer Inc. (PKI) $63.36 -4.51%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $80.00 -3.33%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $23.99 -3.03%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $22.88 -3.01%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.07 -2.87%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $62.17 -2.81%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $131.63 -2.58%
Newell Brands Inc (NWL) $51.22 -2.55%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $82.26 1.96%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $70.96 1.44%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $56.89 1.14%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.00 1.01%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $168.13 0.99%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $228.99 0.70%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $156.53 0.62%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $33.78 0.61%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $303.99 0.60%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $55.84 0.59%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $31.12 -11.26%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $270.04 -7.64%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $155.82 -3.56%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $23.99 -3.03%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $22.88 -3.01%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $62.17 -2.81%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $27.80 -2.52%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $28.10 -2.50%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $33.90 -2.31%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $150.29 -2.21%