· The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted slight gains on Friday after the U.S. government released jobs growth data that easily beat expectations.
The 30-stock Dow rose 64.22 points to 25,063.89 as Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Merck all closed higher. The Dow also posted its sixth straight week of gains, its longest since November 2017. The S&P 500 closed 0.1 percent higher at 2,706.53 as gains in the energy and tech sectors offset losses in consumer discretionary. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.25 percent to 7,263.87 as Amazon shares fell.
· The U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Refinitiv expect the U.S. economy to have added 170,000 jobs in January. The report follows a 35-day U.S. government shutdown. It also marks the 100th straight month of jobs growth. Investors had been awaiting the report in search of clues about the state of the economy.
However, the report also included a sharp downward revision of December's jobs gains. January's wages also grew at a much slower-than-expected pace.
· Asia markets were mixed on Monday morning, with shares in Japan rising while Australian markets traded lower.
Over in Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.43 percent while the Topix rose 0.94 percent. Shares of tech giant Sony, however, plunged more than 8 percent after the company cut its revenue outlook for the fiscal year on the back of weaker-than-expected sales of cameras and smartphones.
Stocks in Australia traded lower during Monday morning trade ahead of the release of a landmark report surrounding the country’s beleaguered financial services sector.
The ASX 200 gained about 0.4 percent in morning trade, with the sectors mostly higher. The heavily weighted financial subindex recovered from its earlier slip to rise more than 0.7 percent as shares of the country’s Big Four banks advanced.
Reference: CNBC
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