US stocks registered good gains for the week that ended on Friday, 03 February 2012. Most of the gains were accumulated on Friday, the last trading day of the week following a much better than expected job report and unemployment data. Indices would have registered small gains if not for Fridays gains. The Nasdaq reached 11 year high following the non farm payroll data. Economic and earning reports dominated the week.
For the week, that ended on Friday, 03 February 2012, Dow ended higher by 201.77 points or 1.6% to end at 12,862.23. The Nasdaq gained 89.32 points or 3.2% to end at 2,905.7. The S&P 500 gained 28.6 points or 2.2% to end at 1,344.9.
Among earning reports expected for the week, reports included better-than-expected results from Dow Chemical, Qualcomm, MasterCard, Whirlpool, Pfizer and Eli Lilly. Exxon Mobil had in-line earnings results, while Amazon.com came short of what Wall Street had expected of their earnings.
Among major corporate news during the week, social network outfit Facebook made headlines by filing for an initial public offering that some estimate will value the company up to $100 billion.
During the week, Fed Chairman Bernanke offered up testimony on the economy to the House of Representatives Budget Committee, but his statement caused little stir. Bernanke did indicate, though, that concerns about the domestic outlook and developments in Europe are abating, even as Greece continues to grapple with creditors over its lending terms.
Market participants had plenty of data to digest this week. Given the significance of the payrolls report on Friday, only modest attention was given to the latest weekly initial jobless claims tally. It showed that 367,000 claims were filed. Thats less than the 375,000 initial claims that had been broadly expected.
The ISM Manufacturing Index improved in January to 54.1 from 53.1 in the prior month, but many had expected it to make a slightly stronger climb to 54.5. China reported mixed manufacturing data, but a handful of major eurozone members reported incremental improvements in their PMI Manufacturing readings.
The latest Chicago PMI fell to 60.2 in January from 62.5 in the prior month, contrasting the consensus forecast for a modest improvement to 62.8. The Consumer Confidence Index for January also proved disappointing. It fell to 61.1 from 64.8 in the prior month, clashing with expectations for an improvement to 67.0.
Retailers were out with monthly same-store sales results, but overall numbers were uninspiring. Gap and Target were among those that exceeded expectations, but Macys and Nordstrom were among those that disappointed.
In the wake of last weeks Advance fourth quarter GDP report personal spending data for December caused little stir. It was unchanged for the month. Thats not too different than the expected increase of 0.1%. Core personal consumption expenditures increased by 0.2%, just as many had expected.
U.S. stocks leapt on Friday, 03 February 2012 propelling the Nasdaq index to an 11-year high, as Wall Street embraced the nations jobless rate dropping to a three-year low. The days broad gains capped a strong week for stocks, with two indexes rallying for the fifth straight week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 156.82 points, or 1.2%, to 12,862.23, its highest close since May 2008. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 45.98 points, or 1.6%, to 2,905.66. The S&P 500 Index rose 19.36 points, or 1.5%, to 1,344.90, its best day since the first trading session of the year.
Financials led the rise among its 10 major sectors, all of which closed higher. Of its 30 components, 28 rose, led by a 5.2% gain in Bank of America shares.
In the currency market on Friday, the Dollar Index, which weighs the strength of dollar against basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.4%.
Among economic data expected for the day, a tepid tone to premarket trade turned decidedly positive in response to news that nonfarm payrolls jumped in January by 243,000 and that private payrolls climbed by 257,000. Market had expected, on average, respective increases of 155,000 and 168,000 respectively. Moreover, the headline unemployment rate fell to 8.3% from 8.5%, which is where it had been widely expected to remain.
Buying interest among equities was further bolstered by the latest ISM Service Index. It improved to 56.8 in January from 52.6 in the prior month. Market had expected a more modest improvement to 53.1.
For every stock declining nearly four gained on the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE composite volume topped 4.5 billion.
Crude prices ended higher for first time in six sessions on Friday, 03 February 2012 at Nymex. Prices ended higher on higher demand prospects following better than expected economic data at Wall Street. Higher dollar limited gains for crude. Light and sweet crude for March delivery rose $1.48 (1.5%) to $97.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Prices rose to a high of $98.03 during intra day trading. Prices fell 1.7% for the week.
Precious metal prices ended lower on Friday, 03 February 2012 at Comex. Both gold and silver prices fell following better than expected economic data at Wall Street on Friday. The same coupled with strong dollar dulled the appeal of precious metals as an alternate investment as equities rallied on Friday. Nevertheless, gold prices registered weekly gains though silver ended little lower. Gold for April delivery ended lower by $19 or 1.1%, to end at $1,740.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. It traded as low as $1,735.5 during intra day trading. For the week, gold gained 0.5%. On Friday, silver prices for March delivery fell $0.43 or 1.3% to end at $33.75. For the week, silver shed 0.1%.
Indian ADRs ended mostly higher on Friday. Gains were led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank which gained 3.4% and 3.1% respectively. Tata Motors, Infosys and Wipro Technologies gained 2.9%, 2.8% and 2% respectively.
For the year till date, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are trading higher by 5.3%, 11.5% and 6.9% respectively. The pace of earnings announcements will come down in the next week.
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