U.S. Payrolls Data, ECB Loan Action Power World Markets Advance

Nichole Harper
03 Jul, 2014
New York City

U.S. market indexes closed higher after monthly jobs gains were higher than expected and unemployment rate fell to 6.1%. The larger than expected jobs additions lifted the market indexes.

[R]2:15 PM New York – U.S. market indexes closed higher after monthly jobs gains were higher than expected and unemployment rate fell to 6.1%. The larger than expected jobs additions lifted the market indexes.[/R]

U.S. market indexes gained in a short trading session ahead of three-day weekend and employers added jobs more than expected and the unemployment rate fell.

U.S. employers added 288,000 jobs in June after May payrolls were revised higher to 224,000, the Labor Department said today. Long term unemployment fell to 3.1 million.

Unemployment rate declined to 6.1%, a decline of 0.2 percentage point and the lowest rate since September 2008.

The unemployment has been steadily declining since 2013 when it reached 7.9% and in the last five months employers have added more than 200,000 jobs each month.

The jobs report was moved ahead of its scheduled Friday release because the federal government is closed for the July 4 holiday.

Wall Street embraced the jobs report after the released data was sharply higher than estimated increase in jobs of no more than 215,000.

S&P 500 index increased 9.98 to 1,984.57 and Nasdaq Composite Index added 26.27 or 0.6% to 4,483.96.

Tollbooth Index closed at 9,535.84 and extended the yearly advance to 5.6%. The index has appreciated more than eight times in the last fourteen years.

Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index once served as the market proxy, crossed 17,000 for the first time after crossing 16,000 for the first time on November 21, 2013.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Lululemon Athletica Inc ((LULU)) jumped 2.4% or $1 to $42.40 after the athletic apparel and accessories maker is in talk with private-equity firms including Leonard Green & Partners. The news was first reported by Wall Street Journal.

At the annual meeting held in June, Dennis Wilson the founder expressed his unhappiness with the direction the company.

PetSmart soared 12% to $67.10 after the activist Jana Partners hedge fund acquired 9.9% stake in the pet food retailer.

Tyson Foods, Inc. ((TSN)) slipped 1.5% or 58 cents to $38.38 after the meat processor agreed to acquire its peer Hillshire Brands Co. for $63 per share in an all-cash deal valued at about $8.55 billion, including debt.

European Markets

European markets closed higher after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi offered details of new loan program for banks.

The closely watched announcement from the central bank was widely expected. Draghi said banks

In London trading, FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6% or 40.42 to 6,856.79 and in Frankfurt the DAX index climbed 1% or 102.33 to 10,013.60. In Paris, CAC 40 index jumped 0.9% or 39.73 to 4,484.45.

The U.K. based construction giant, Balfour Beatty dropped after fourth profit warning in two years and the stock recovered at close to a loss of 4% after plunging as much as 17%.

Swiss based confectionary maker, Barry Callebaut quarterly revenue soared 22% to 4.32 billion francs.

Greene King, the U.K. based restaurants and pubs operator said profit increased to £96 million. Ingenico,

France based payment processor is in talks to acquire online payment-service provider GlobalCollect for €820 million.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and the Topix index closed down after rising as much as 0.3% in the session.

The broader topix index, widely followed among institutional investors, turned lower from a five-month high but investors remained optimistic of Japanese economic fundamentals.

Five week rise in the Topix index of 11% has trimmed its year-to-date decline to 1.8%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 28.87 or 0.2% to 15,341.10 and the broader Topix index fell 2.19 to 1,278.59.

The yen eased to close at 101.92 against one U.S. dollar.

Market trading was disrupted on the Bombay Stock Exchange after a three-hour network outage. Indexes opened higher and gained in brisk trading.

The Sensex Index fell 17.46 to close at 25,823.75 The CNX Nifty slid 10.35 to 7,714.80.

Alstom T&D won contract worth Rs 27.7 crore from Himachal Pradesh. Apollo Tyres invest $340 million at Chennai and Kerala plants. Coal India production fell in June. Hero Motocorp sales in June climbed 8%. JSW Energy acquired power plant for Rs 5,700 crore.