A better-than-expected government jobs report helped the Dow
and S&P 500 achieve a winning finish, but Apple's decline
dragged the Nasdaq into red. The report also outshined a decline
in the consumer sentiment index. The unemployment rate hit its
lowest level since December 2008. Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker
John Boehner said no progress had been made on the fiscal cliff
issue through the week. The technology sector was the biggest
loser, whereas materials were the biggest gainer among the
S&P 500 industry groups.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.6% to close the
day at 13,155.13. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) rose
0.3% to finish Friday's trading session at 1,418.07. The
tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.4% to end at
2,978.04. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) lost 4.1% to
settle at 15.90. Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock
Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were roughly 5.47
billion shares, significantly lower than the daily average of
6.48 billion shares. Advancing stocks outpaced decliners on the
NYSE; as for 52% stocks that rose, 43% stocks moved lower.
Benchmarks opened higher on Friday propelled by
better-than-expected non-farm payroll data. However, the Nasdaq
dropped into the negative zone after a slump in Apple Inc.'s
(NASDAQ:
AAPL
) shares. The S&P 500 and the blue-chip index finished higher
for the third consecutive week. For the week, the Dow surged
1.0%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq lost 1.1%.
Apple's shares tumbled 2.6% on Friday and suffered a 9.0% decline
for the week. This was its worst week since May 2010. This
development dragged the technology sector lower and the
Technology SPDR (XLK) fell 0.5%. Stocks such as Google Inc
(NASDAQ:
GOOG
), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:
NVDA
), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:
DELL
) and Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ:
AMCC
) dropped 1.0%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that
total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 146,000 in
November, beating consensus estimates of 93,000. The increase in
non-farm payroll employment was largely driven by retail trade,
professional and business services, and health care. In November,
retail trade added 53,000 jobs, while professional and business
services added 43,000 jobs. Manufacturing showed no change for
the month. The unemployment rate declined to 7.7% from October's
figure of 7.9%.
Meanwhile, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's
preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index declined to its
lowest level since August. According to the report,
consumer sentiment surprisingly tumbled to 74.5 in December from
82.7 in November. According to experts, consumer sentiment fell
because Americans are worried about the Fiscal Cliff issue.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, John
Boehner, said no progress had been made on the Fiscal Cliff issue
last week. President Barack Obama once gain said that no deal is
possible without increasing tax rates for rich Americans. On the
other hand, Boehner said government should get "serious" about
the automatic spending cuts. If Congress fails to seal a deal
about the Fiscal Cliff issue, then its effect will be felt in
three weeks.
The materials sector was the major gainer among the S&P 500
industry groups and the Materials Select Sector (XLB) gained
0.8%. Stocks such as E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:
DD
), The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:
DOW
), Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:
EMN
), Celanese Corporation (NYSE:
CE
) and Ashland Inc. (NYSE:
ASH
) surged 0.7%, 2.2%, 1.6%, 0.6% and 1.7%, respectively.
APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
APPLD MICRO CIR (AMCC): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ASHLAND INC (ASH): Free Stock Analysis Report
CELANESE CP-A (CE): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DU PONT (EI) DE (DD): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DELL INC (DELL): Free Stock Analysis Report
DOW CHEMICAL (DOW): Free Stock Analysis
Report
EASTMAN CHEM CO (EMN): Free Stock Analysis
Report
GOOGLE INC-CL A (GOOG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
NVIDIA CORP (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis
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