Stock market today: Indexes rise as rate-cut odds edge up after jobs report
Buoyant hiring in November boosted confidence about the US economy.
US indexes climbed higher on Friday as traders took in resilient jobs data and bolstered their bets for another coming Fed rate cut. All three benchmark indexes traded in the green, while bond yields dipped.
Hiring was strong last month, rebounding from a much weaker-than-expected payroll figure in October. The economy added 227,000 new jobs in November, slightly above the expected 220,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.
The unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 4.2% from last month’s 4.1%.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 6,091.75, up 0.27%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 44,867.15, up 0.28% (-124.26 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 19,773.11, up 0.39%
Buoyant hiring has eased investors’ fears over a potential recession, though the report also strengthened bets for another 25 basis point Fed rate cut, the CME FedWatch tool shows.
Odds that central bankers will issue another quarter-point cut at their policy meeting rose to 87% Friday morning, up from 71% on Thursday.
“After a prior month of hurricanes and worker strikes, we did get a bounce back in the headline payroll numbers plus positive revisions,” Bryon Anderson, the head of fixed income at Laffer Tengler Investments, said in a note on Friday. “Jobs creation may not be as robust as in past years, but we are not seeing a disaster in the job market.”
“Given the positive backdrop of strong economic growth, a healthy labor market, and inflation that is relatively contained, the Fed can keep cutting rates and that should allow the bull market to run into the end of the year and into early next year,” Chris Zaccarelli, the chief investment officer of Northlight Asset Management, added.
Uncertainty still lingers over whether the Fed could pause its rate cutting cycle next year, though odds of another quarter-point cut in January are growing. Markets are pricing in a 27% chance rates will be 50 basis-points lower in January, up from 20% on Thursday.
Here’s what else is happening:
- Bitcoin’s surge is setting the stage for a year-end stock market rally, according to Fundstrat.
- Standard Chartered boosted its call for bitcoin to hit $200,000 next year.
- The US stock market boom has boosted the wealth of the world’s billionaires to $14 trillion.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1% to $67.62 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, ticked lower 0.98% to $71.38 a barrel.
- Gold dipped 0.81% to $2,631.08 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield dipped four basis points to 4.138%.
- Bitcoin edged lower 3.52% to $98,954.
