Stepping back to look at the major U.S. equity indices, the S&P 500 was on track for a slightly weekly gain of 0.3% in afternoon trade Friday, the Dow added 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite was flat for the week.
The Labor Department on Friday said the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs last month, more than expected.
In bonds, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NYSEArca: TLT) was down over 1% on Friday. Jon Hilsenrath, the noted Fed watcher at The Wall Street Journal, on Friday reported the central bank is likely to signal at the June policy meeting it is on track to start tapering its bond purchases later this year if the economic data holds up.
Friday’s job report “is in the sweet spot,” Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, told Bloomberg News. “It shows investors that the economy is growing but not fast enough for them to be concerned that the Fed is going to start tapering its asset purchase program.”
In next week’s economic data, look for reports on wholesale inventories, the federal budget, retail sales, import and export prices, business inventories, producer prices, consumer sentiment and the account deficit.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own TLT.