The stock markets in the United States fluctuated and eventually ended the trading with mixed results on Friday. The markets were impacted by the lower than expected jobs data.
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The Department of Labor reported that American companies added 214,000 jobs in October, lower than the 235,000 jobs estimated by economists. The agency reported that the unemployment rate declined to 5.8% as the number of unemployed persons dropped to 9 million last month.
According to the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate declined 0.8% and the number of unemployed person dropped by 1.2 million since the beginning of this year.
In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist U.S. Bank Wealth Management said, “We’re moving toward pause mode and a period of digestion following the rally of the past few weeks.”
[drizzle]He added, “The market rallied in expectation of a generally positive employment report, which occurred with non-farm payrolls over 200,000. But average wages being flat implies the pace of growth is somewhat slow, so valuations may increasingly become an issue.”
On the other hand, Jeff Korzenik, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Bancorp commented that the jobs report was “moderately disappointing” in terms of the level of growth, but he noted that there is a continued growth in the labor market.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,573.93 (+0.11%)
- S&P 500- 2,031.91 (+0.03%)
- NASDAQ- 4,632.53 (-0.13%)
- Russell 2000- 1,171.34 (-0.04%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,064.92 (-1.20%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,567.24 (+0.25%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,291.83 (-0.91%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 16,880.38 (+0.52%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,550.24 (-0.42%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,502.15 (+0.10%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHLD) climbed more than 31% to $42.81 per share after the retailer disclosed its plan to create a real investment trust (REIT). The company aims to monetize some of its real-estate holdings through a sales-leaseback deal, according to Reuters. Last month, the company announced its plan to raise as much as $625 million through equity warrants and an unsecured loan.
The shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) declined more than 33% to $91.47 per share after its CFO Adam Derby stepped down from his position. The company also reduced its earnings and revenue forecast for the fiscal 2014 after reporting weak financial results for the third quarter. The company posted losses of $88.6 million or $1.39 per share and $355 million in revenue.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) declined more than 2% to $89.90 per share. The world’s largest entertainment company reported that its profit increased 12% to $0.86 per share for the fourth quarter. Its stock price was negatively impacted by the performance of its media networks segment that missed estimates.
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