European and US stock markets soared Friday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Germany's Dax setting new records, as strong US jobs data for April revived confidence in the US economic recovery.
At the end of a cautious week, tempered by bearish economic views from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, market bulls unleashed their energy finally after the US report painted a much brighter picture of the economy than was felt in recent weeks.
The Department of Labor reported an addition of 165,000 jobs for April, which exceeded analyst expectations. But it also made large upward revisions for the prior two months that showed 114,000 more jobs were added than initially estimated.
US stocks soared one percent from the opening bell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaching 15,000 for the first time and the S&P cracking 1,600.
At the close, the Dow finished at 14,973.96, up 0.96 percent. The S&P 500 gained 1.05 percent to 1,614.42, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 38.01 (1.14 percent) to 3,378.63
The jobs report reverberated beyond US shores, with European markets shooting higher in parallel.
The DAX 30 index of leading German shares jumped by 2.02 percent to an all-time high of 8,122.29 points while in London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.94 percent to 6,521.46 points.
In Paris the CAC 40 jumped 1.40 percent to 3,912.95 points, its highest closing since July 2011.
"Today's report has clearly quashed worries that the US labor market has failed to improve this year and the economic recovery has stalled," ETX Capital economist Ishaq Siddiqi said.
"We're gaining more confidence that the recovery is gaining strength," said Greg Peterson, director of research at Ballentine Partners.
The soaring markets continue to be fuelled by the campaign by central banks to keep interest rates ultra-low to promote growth.
Those efforts were reaffirmed this week, when the Federal Reserve Wednesday maintained its aggressive bond-buying program, noting that it "continues to see downside risks to the economic outlook."
And on Thursday, the ECB slashed its benchmark interest rate as bank chief Mario Draghi signaled an accommodative monetary stance "for as long as needed."
The US jobs report raised confidence that the vectors of the US economy are pointing in the right direction, potentially also boosting the fortunes of its trading partners in Europe and beyond.
"The reason the market is heading higher is because most people on Wall Street expect the fundamentals to improve as the year progresses," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor's.
Still, Wall Street insiders said there is reason for caution.
The most recent round of quarterly corporate earnings has shown a pattern of solid earnings growth, but weak revenue growth. That trend suggests companies are ramping up profits by cutting costs, not by investing in growth.
"It's really a continuation of the half-speed recovery we've been in since this economy pulled out of recession," said Stovall.
The Friday jobs report culminated a busy week of generally positive economic news.
The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing purchasing managers index came in below expectations, falling to 50.7 in April from 51.3 in March.
But the monthly Case-Shiller index of city housing prices showed that prices rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in the 20 biggest urban markets. Investors were also heartened by a robust rise in the Conference Board's consumer confidence index in April, to 68.1 points from a revised 61.9 in March.
"It's pretty clear that the economic data all week long was better than expected," said Dan Greenhaus of BTIG.
Wall Street players disagree on whether the market still has more upside.
"We're getting sort of close" to a fully valued market, Stovall said.
Greenhaus said the historic patterns suggest a pullback is likely. Even so, many in the market want stocks to go higher.
"You have a situation where things are not as bad as we thought, but the Fed remains accomodative," Greenhaus said. "And the combination has been positive for risk assets and should continue to be."
AFP
Sat May 04 2013
Pelajar tahfiz perlu teroka bidang teknologi
Kira-kira 200,000 pelajar tahfiz di negara ini, perlu dipastikan untuk mempunyai kemampuan dan peluang menjadi tenaga penggerak kepada umat Islam Malaysia dalam meneroka bidang yang dahulu dilihat sebagai asing., tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perpaduan rakyat prasyarat ekonomi mampan
Tidak semua negara Islam mempunyai ruang dan kesempatan untuk terus aman dan damai, dan mempunyai peluang untuk menikmati ekonomi yang kukuh dan berkembang seperti Malaysia, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Tidak perlu tergesa-gesa tukar ke lesen B - JPJ
Pemegang Lesen Memandu Malaysia (LMM) Kelas B2 dan B1 tidak perlu tergesa-gesa mendaftar Program Khas Peralihan LLM Kelas B2/B1 Kepada LMM Kelas B kerana tiada had masa ditetapkan untuk permohonan.
KPWKM teruskan lapan inisiatif bantu warga emas
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) akan terus menggerakkan lapan inisiatif utama dalam memenuhi keperluan jagaan dan sistem sokongan terhadap warga emas.
Warga emas maut ditikam anak kandung yang berhalusinasi
Seorang pesara guru maut ditikam anak kandungnya sendiri di sebuah rumah dekat Kampung Senaling, di sini, petang Sabtu.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 5 Oktober 2024.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Hezbollah lancar serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kompleks industri ketenteraan di utara Israel
Pergerakan Hezbollah di Lubnan berkata mereka telah melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kemudahan ATA Defence Industries.
Tiada kaitan dengan pelantikan CEO MDEC, Anuar Fariz bukan adik saya - Fahmi
Menteri Komunikasi Fahmi Fadzil menyangkal dakwaan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) baharu Perbadanan Ekonomi Digital Malaysia (MDEC) Anuar Fariz Fadzil merupakan adiknya.
Israel lakukan persiapan untuk serang Iran - Laporan
Tentera Israel sedang bersiap untuk "tindakan balas besar-besaran dan ekstrem" terhadap Iran.
Bursa Malaysia dibuka lebih tinggi
Pada 9.07 pagi, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) meraih 1.69 mata kepada 1,417.64 daripada 1,415.95 sewaktu ditutup pada Jumaat.
Indeks utama AS meningkat, data pekerjaan naik
Dalam semakan akhir, indeks Dow Jones naik 97 mata, Nasdaq jatuh 51 mata dan S & P 500 naik 2 mata.
Bursa AS rendah, pelabur tunggu data inflasi
Saham di Bursa New York ditutup rendah pada hari pertama dagangan minggu ini dengan pelabur menunggu laporan pendapatan korporat.
Saham di bursa Amerika Syarikat ditutup rendah
Jualan saham tenaga dan perindustrian turut mengheret turun Dow Jones yang jatuh 127 mata dan S&P 500 jatuh enam mata manakala Nasdaq naik 11 mata.
Bursa AS meningkat, hasil bon kembali stabil
Hasil bon 10 tahun Amerika menurun kepada 1.449 peratus selepas ia meningkat ke paras tertinggi dalam setahun kepada 1.614 peratus.
Bursa AS menurun pada dagangan Rabu
Saham di Bursa Amerika Syarikat mencatatkan sedikit kejatuhan dengan pelabur menjual saham teknologi.
Bursa AS tinggi, Dow Jones cecah paras rekod
Saham di Wall Street mencatat peningkatan selari dengan saham global susulan peningkatan vaksinasi dan jangkaan Pelan Rangsangan Amerika semakin hampir diluluskan.
Bursa AS bercampur, Nasdaq kekal tinggi
Bursa di Amerika Syarikat (AS) ditutup bercampur, namun Nasdaq meneruskan kenaikan pada Selasa.
Saham di Bursa AS ditutup tinggi
Saham di pasaran Amerika Syarikat (AS) ditutup pada paras tertinggi dalam rekod pada Isnin dengan prospek pelan rangsangan akan dilaksanakan.
Bursa AS tinggi, pasaran buruh stabil
Harapan terhadap Pelan Rangsangan Amerika yang akan diluluskan turut membantu pasaran.