“Friday’s action told us that the market viewed the NFPs as a Bullish sign for future economic growth” — Paul Ebeling
US jobs increased more than expected in February putting the labor market recovery back on firm and on course for further gains in the months ahead.
NFPs came in at 379,000 in February after rising 166,000 in January, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled forecast February payrolls increasing by 182,000.
The Key takeaway from the NFP report is that it will be seen as a sign of even better things to come for the labor market, which augurs well for growth prospects.
The increase in nonfarm payrolls was the strongest since October and the best pace for February in more than 20 yrs, which is encouraging in that it came in front of more states eliminating VirusCasedemic restrictions in months ahead.
Friday, the benchmark US stock market indexes finish on their highs at: DJIA +572.16 at 31496.30, NAS Comp +196.68 at 12920.17, S&P 500 +73.47 at 3841.94 and the Russell 2000 gained 2.1%.
Volume: Trade on the NYSE came in at 1.5-B/shares exchanged
HeffX-LTN’s overall technical outlook for the major US stock market indexes at the wk ending 5 March 2021 is now Bullish with a Very Bullish bias.
- Russell 2000 +11.0% YTD
- DJIA+2.9% YTD
- S&P 500 +2.3% YTD
- NAS Comp +0.3% YTD
Looking Ahead: Investors will receive Wholesale Inventories for January Monday
Have a healthy weekend, Keep the Faith!
