U.S. markets and stock ETFs slipped Friday after a strong four-day rebound off a steep plunge in the prior week as an update on the U.S. labor market failed to keep the rally going.
On Friday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was down 0.3%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) fell 0.8% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) dropped 0.4%.
The Labor Department’s data revealed nonfarm payrolls increased by 225,000 jobs last month, or much higher than expectations of 160,000 job additions, Reuters reports.
The report also followed a number of positive economic data points this week, including the ADP’s strong private payrolls report for January.
“The jobs report was largely as expected because ADP was a blowout number. Today for the most part was baked in,” Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told Reuters.
Despite the dip on Friday, the U.S. markets have more or less recovered from their steep losses last week after the coronavirus outbreak fueled speculation of a severe hit to the global economy.
“The market is due for some sort of digestion of gains before it continues to challenge the 30,000 level on the Dow Jones Industrial Average,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, told Reuters.
However, coronavirus concerns have not dissipated, with the Federal Reserve warning that the fast-spreading coronavirus “could lead to disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global economy.”
“We have seen an acceleration in the number of new cases and deaths, so I think there are some concerns about that, and whether the acceleration continues or whether they’ve got it under control,” Paul Flood, a fund manager at Newton Investment Management, told the Wall Street Journal. “If it extends from a three-month to a six-month or nine-month slowdown, then that would be concerning.”
U.S. markets have also found support from a strong earnings season. Over 300 S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter results so far, with about 70% of those reported topping earnings estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
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