Futures Turn Positive Following Monthly Jobs Report

[ADVFN]( [[Global Email] World Daily Markets Bulletin]( Friday, 08 March 2024 09:01:19 [ADVFN Twitter]( [Monitor]( [Quote]( [Charts]( [News]( [Toplists]( [Boards]( Breaking: Price of Gold & Silver set to EXPLODE in 2023! Read Now... Attention investors and retirement savers...Investment experts and even mainstream news publications are predicting a windfall for gold and silver prices in 2023! This could be the year we see the value of precious metals like gold and silver EXPLODE! You won't want to miss out! [Reserve Your FREE Gold & Silver Kit Today!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- US Market Bitcoin [Bitcoin]( DAX [DAX]( Dow Jones [Dow Jones]( Nasdaq [Nasdaq]( The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The futures turned positive following the release of the Labor Department?s closely watched report on employment in the month of February. While job growth in February came in much stronger than expected, the report also showed notable downward revisions to job growth in the two previous months. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 275,000 jobs in February, while economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs. However, the report also said job growth in December and January was downwardly revised to 290,000 and 229,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 167,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in February from 3.7 percent in January. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged. The downward revisions to job growth in the two previous months combined with the increase in the unemployment rate may add to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Treasury yields initially jumped following the release of the report but have since moved lower, extending a recent downward trend. Extending the rebound seen during Wednesday's session, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. The major averages further offset the notable pullback seen to start the week, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 bouncing back to record intraday highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 241.83 points or 1.5 percent to 16,273.38, ending the day just shy of last Friday's record closing high, while the S&P 500 managed to set a new record closing high, jumping 52.60 points or 1.0 percent to 5,157.36. The narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, rising 130.30 points or 0.3 percent to 38,791.35. The extended rebound on Wall Street came as optimism about the outlook for interest rates continued to inspire traders to get back into the markets following the pullback seen on Monday and Tuesday. After saying rate cuts were likely this year during Congressional testimony on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell doubled-down during remarks today, saying cuts "can and will" begin this year. While Powell also reiterated officials needs "greater confidence" inflation is slowing, traders remain optimistic the Fed will begin cutting rates in June. Adding to the optimism about interest rates, the European Central Bank lowered its annual inflation forecast while announcing its widely expected decision to leave rates unchanged. Potentially adding to the buying interest on Wall Street, treasury yields saw further downside on the day, with the ten-year yield falling to its lowest closing level in a month. Semiconductor stocks led the way higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 3.4 percent to a record closing high. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) shot up by 4.5 percent after Mizuho Securities raised its price target on the AI darling to $1,000 per share, while Micron (MU) surged by 3.6 percent after Stifel upgraded its rating on the chipmaker's stock to Buy from Hold. Considerable strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector came despite a modest decrease by the price of crude oil. Housing stocks also showed a strong move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.6 percent to a record closing high. Software, gold and retail stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while networking stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you day trade? Trader Alerts streams stocks reaching new highs and lows as well as stocks breaking out of previous volume highs as they happen. It's a powerful tool for day trading ideas. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Economic Reports CADUSD [CADUSD]( Oil [Oil]( Gold [Gold]( EURUSD [EURUSD]( Employment in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the report also showed notable downward revisions to job growth in the two previous months. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by 275,000 jobs in February, while economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs. However, the report also said job growth in December and January was downwardly revised to 290,000 and 229,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 167,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in February from 3.7 percent in January. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged. --------------------------------------------------------------- [3 Tiny Stocks Primed to Explode]( The world's greatest investor ? Warren Buffett ? has a simple formula for making big money in the markets. He buys up valuable assets when they are very cheap. For stock market investors that means buying up cheap small cap stocks like these with huge upside potential. We've set up an alert service to help smart investors take full advantage of the small cap stocks primed for big returns. [Click here for full details and to join for free.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks in Focus Shares of Gap (GPS) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the apparel retailer reported fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Electronic signature and document management company DocuSign (DOCU) is also likely to see initial strength after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat first quarter guidance. On the other hand, shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) may come under pressure after the chipmaker reported fourth quarter earnings in line with estimates but forecast first quarter results below analyst estimates. Warehouse retailer Costco (COST) may also move to the downside after reporting fiscal second quarter earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sell every Stock except ONE]( Markets are down... But Jeff Clark couldn't care less because he ignores almost every stock in the market except ONE. He lives financially free trading this One Stock Once per month... [Ticker Revealed.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Europe European stocks have struggled for direction on Friday and are turning in a mixed performance following the release of the closely watched U.S. jobs data. The euro area economy remained unchanged in the fourth quarter, as initially estimated, revised data from Eurostat showed on Friday. Gross domestic product flatlined sequentially, following a 0.1 percent dip in the third quarter. The fourth quarter's rate matched the estimate published on February 14. Germany's industrial production expanded in January, figures from Destatis showed earlier today. Industrial production posted monthly growth of 1.0 percent, in contrast to the 2.0 percent slump in December. Output was expected to climb 0.6 percent. Elsewhere, France's trade deficit increased at the start of the year as exports fell faster than imports, data released by the customs office showed. The trade deficit widened more-than-expected to 7.4 billion euros in January from 6.4 billion euros in December. European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that the central bank would likely cut interest rates in April or June. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent. HelloFresh SE shares have plunged as the German meal-kit maker cut its 2024 core earnings forecast for the second time in five months and dropped its midterm targets. British packaging firm Mondi has tumbled as it announced an agreement in principle for a potential all-share offer to acquire its smaller rival DS Smith for £5.14 billion. DS Smith shares have soared. Electrical and telecommunications retailer Currys has dropped after it confirmed the sale of its business in Greece and Cyprus for around £156 million. Meanwhile, information services provider Informa has advanced after underlying revenue grew 30 percent in 2023. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a full view of the market? Level 2 lets you see all of the orders to buy and sell shares, allowing you to see what is really going on in the market. If you don?t have this in your trading toolkit, you?re at a serious disadvantage. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Asia USDCAD [USDCAD]( USDEUR [USDEUR]( USDGBP [USDGBP]( USDJPY [USDJPY]( Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Friday to hit seven-month highs as lower interest rates beckoned on the horizon. The dollar and Treasury yields were under pressure, helping underpin sentiment ahead of the all-important U.S. jobs data due later in the day that might offer further clues on when the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates. Gold held steady near a record high, while oil prices rose after ending Thursday's session lower on Chinese demand concerns. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 3,046.02 after Thursday's trade data signaled increased demand. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8 percent to 16,353.39, with tech stocks surging after senior officials announced plans to strengthen China's self-reliance and power in advanced technologies during the National People's Congress. Japanese markets ended slightly higher, while the yen hit a one-month high against the greenback, helped by growing expectations that the Bank of Japan could finally move away from its ultra-easy monetary policy stance this month. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.2 percent to 39,688.94 but posted its first weekly drop in six. The broader Topix Index closed up 0.3 percent at 2,726.80. Automakers lost ground, with Toyota Motor, Suzuki Motor and Subaru falling 1-3 percent. Seoul stocks rallied following dovish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Kospi surged 1.2 percent to 2,680.35, led by pharmaceutical stocks such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion. Australian markets hit a new record high on hopes the Fed and ECB would cut interest rates sooner rather than later. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index jumped 1.1 percent to 7,847.0, while the broader All Ordinaries index shot up 1.0 percent at 8,107.50. Banks topped the gainers list, with Westpac rallying 2.6 percent and NAB adding 2.3 percent. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you day trade? Trader Alerts streams stocks reaching new highs and lows as well as stocks breaking out of previous volume highs as they happen. It's a powerful tool for day trading ideas. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Commodities Crude oil futures are edging down $0.19 to $78.74 a barrel after slipping $0.20 to $78.93 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after rising $7 to $2,165.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $21.10 to $2,186.30 an ounce. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.68 yen versus the 148.05 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0968 compared to yesterday?s $1.0948. --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click [here](. Registered Office/Accounts Dept: Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre, The Gable, Fyfield Road, Ongar, CM5 0GA. Customer Support +1 888-992-3836. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49