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By Connor
Smith | Friday, April 1 April
Fools? Stocks
played a bit of a prank on market observers. The three major indexes seemed
poised for declines before rallying back in the final 15 minutes of the
session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 0.4% on the day, though it still had a slight drop on the week, snapping
a two-week winning streak. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq
Composite, each up 0.3% today, managed to finish higher for a
third consecutive week. The Labor Department said the U.S.
economy added 431,000 jobs in March, below economist's expectations at
490,000. But Barron's Megan
Cassella writes that the number of jobs created in January
and February were revised upward, bringing the unemployment rate to 3.6% in
March, near a prepandemic low of 3.5%. Megan adds: Job growth for the month was once again led
by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 112,000 jobs as businesses
continued to reopen and staff up after winter slowdowns and shutdowns caused
by the Omicron variant outbreak. Professional and business services, retail
trade and manufacturing all saw significant growth over the month as well. Key for the Fed is the data on average
hourly earnings, which climbed 13 cents for all workers over the month to
$31.73, marking a 0.4% rise in March after a minor 0.1% increase in February.
Average hourly earnings are now up 5.6% over the year, in line with
economists’ expectations. That reflects strong annual wage growth but a pace
that is still lagging behind overall inflation. The strong jobs numbers, paired with
continued inflation, could prompt the Federal Reserve to opt for a half-point
interest rate hike soon, writes Louis Navellier, founder of Navellier
& Associates. "There's a tug of war between whether
higher prices and interest rates can thread the needle and temper growth,
overcoming the pent-up demand of the post-Covid reopening of the global
economy, without overshooting and throwing the economy into a
recession," he writes. April 1 is often a quirky day for markets
thanks to the deluge of fake announcements and facetious company pivots. But
even the real headlines were a bit flashy. After all, the House
of Representatives passed a marijuana decriminalization bill
and an Amazon warehouse voted to
unionize. And last night, GameStop, of all companies,
disclosed its intent to pursue a stock split. Go figure. Watch our
weekly TV show on Fox Business Saturdays at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. ET; or
Sundays at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. ET. This week, an interview with Aswath
Damodaran, professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University,
on tech stock valuations. |
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DJIA: +0.40% to 34,818.27 The Hot Stock: Edwards
Lifesciences +4.5% Best Sector: Real Estate +2.0% |
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