U.S. stocks gain on jobs data, cautious of key earnings; Dow up 0.10%
Published Nov 11, 2013 04:20PM ET
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.10%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.07%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.01%.
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, far surpassing expectations for a 125,000 increase.
A day earlier, official data showed that the U.S. economy grew 2.8% on year in the third quarter, well beyond expectations for 2.0% growth.
The robust data depicted an improving economy, which pleased Wall Street but also rekindled expectations that the Federal Reserve could announce plans to scale back its USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program soon.
Stimulus programs aim to drive recovery by depressing borrowing costs, boosting stocks in the process, and talk of their dismantling can deflate share prices namely by fueling uncertainty over how equities will perform without a monetary crutch, which watered down the rally slightly both Friday and Monday.
Later this week, retail giants Wal-Mart Stores, Macy's and Nordstrom will release third-quarter earnings, which market watchers hope will shed some light on the strength of U.S. consumer demand, which drives the bulk of the world's largest economy.
Uncertainty ahead of time kept many investors on the sidelines on Monday.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included IBM, up 1.61%, Wal-Mart Stores, up 1.33%, and Goldman Sachs, up 0.44%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Boeing, down 0.72%, American Express, down 0.52%, and Microsoft, which was also down 0.52%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.61%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.70%, while Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.33%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.50%.
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Written By: Investing.com
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