Posted on 06/05/2014 2:14:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Dow and the S&P 500 ended at a new record on Thursday after the European Central Bank cut rates to record lows and pledged to do more if needed to fight off the risk of deflation.
Investors are now focused on Friday's U.S. payrolls report for May. It is expected to show job growth slowed last month and the unemployment rate ticked up, but not by enough to upset the view that the economy is bouncing back.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to a firming labor market.
"The number of data we got this week so far on the labor market have not provided a clear direction for tomorrow's numbers," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives with the Schwab Center for Financial Research in Austin.
"So I wouldn't be surprised if the market sold on the (payrolls) news tomorrow, but it's likely to just be a knee-jerk reaction."
The day's gains were broad, with all ten S&P 500 sectors ending higher. Industrials rose 1.1 percent and financials 0.9 percent. The day's weakest sector was telecom, considered a defensive group, which rose less than 0.1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 98.58 points or 0.59 percent, to 16,836.11, the S&P 500 gained 12.58 points or 0.65 percent, to 1,940.46 and theNasdaq Composite added 44.59 points or 1.05 percent, to 4,296.23.
With Thursday's advance, the S&P has risen in nine of the past 11 sessions, up 3.6 percent over that period, and ended at a record high five times in the past six sessions.
(Excerpt) Read more at inforum.com ...
Happy days are here again!
What is that phrase from Limbo Rock?
LOL after 50 years I still haven’t figured out how this is important to anyone.
The stock market is not the economy, and vice versa. It’s just a record of what people are doing with their money, investment-wise.............
We may break the Great Depression's sorriest long stretch of crappy economic environment, if this keeps up.
Judging the health of the economy by the number of cars in a casino parking lot.
I was not smart enough to get out my total market index fund before the crash in early 2009. I thought to myself “It is too late to get out now. I might as well stay in.” I am glad that I did. S&P 500 was at about 650 in March 09, it is about 1940 now. I don’t believe in that class warfare Wall Street vs Main Street b.s. Anybody with a couple thousand dollars can invest in index funds.
The Obama economy is a true miracle. Even the Taliban are overjoyed by it.
Adjust it for real (not reported) inflation, and see what it does.
52% of adult Americans are invested in the stock market to some degree: through owning common stocks, through mutual funds, through their 401.ks, etc.
When the market goes up, it impacts economic confidence indexes and vice-versa when the market is down.
The total value of all world stock markets is $55 Trillion with 34% of that total being publicly traded U.S. based companies.
Yeah whatever. LOL
Yeah, isn’t that fun?!? Because every time the stock market goes down, it comes back even higher.
I love American companies. I’ll always bet on them to perform over time.
Ain’t stimulus grand?
QE infinity.
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