The stock markets in the United States gained despite the weak jobs report. The equity markets benefited from the increase in the prices of crude oil today.
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Weekly data showed a decline in the number of rigs drilling for oil and gas in the United States, which drove crude oil prices to up. Baker Hughes reported that there were only 614 oil rigs operating, the lowest since August 2010.
The price of light, sweet crude for November delivery climbed 1.4% to $45.36 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent rose 0.7% to $48 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe.
Bill Nichols, head of U.S. Equities at Cantor Fitzgerald to the Wall Street Journal, “Any time crude rallies nowadays, it’s good for the overall market.”
[drizzle]On the other hand, Ian Winer, director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities noted that biotechnology stocks, a high-growth area of the stock market, achieved significant gains on Friday. Winer said, “There’s more of a reason to put money into assets that have growth.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the economy added 142,000 jobs in September, lower than 201,000 jobs estimated by economists polled by Bloomberg.
In a statement, “Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said the jobs report is a “reminder that we still face significant headwinds.” He added that the economy remained out of balance.”
Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, commented, “While it was a big disappointment, I don’t think it changes the overall picture. I wouldn’t peg one jobs report, even with previous revisions, as stemming improvements out there. But it’s obviously going to take longer, and the choppier path and more erratic data is likely to occur as the economy works through the rough patch.”
Federal Reserve officials previously indicated that the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand a higher interest rate this year. Today, St. Louis President James Bullard said the central bank is prepared to provider “considerable” accommodations to protect the economy against “pitfalls and risks.”
U.S. Markets
(as of 3:18 PM EST)
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 16, 389.50 (+0.72%)
- S&P 500- 1,940.96 (+0.89%)
- NASDAQ- 4,683.15 (+1.21%)
- Russell 2000- 1100.79 (-0.41%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,088.18 (+0.62%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,129.98 (+0.95%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,553.07 (+0.46%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 17,725.13 (+0.02%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 21,506.09 (+3.17%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,202.95 (+0.76%)
Stocks in Focus
Amicus Therapeutics plummeted more than 55% to $6.17 per share. The biopharmaceutical company was negatively impacted by the additional regulatory guidance from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the oral small molecule chaperone migalastat, a treatment for Fabry disease. Amicus is not expecting to submit NDA for migalastat monotheraphy by the end of this year.
The stock price Edge Therapeutics surged more than 27% to $16.49 per share. The clinical-stage biotechnology company priced debuted on NASDAQ on Thursday and offered its stock for $11 a share.
Wynn Resorts gained more than 22% to $63.46 per share. The company benefited from the statement of Li Gang, director of the China’s Liason Office in Macau said the central government is considering ways to “support Macau’s economy in all aspects.”
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