Stock market today: Wall Street drifts around its records after a solid jobs report
U.S. stocks are drifting around their records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records Friday after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and was just above its all-time high set on Wednesday. It’s rolling toward the close of a third straight winning week in what’s likely to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 108 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:51 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.
Stocks held relatively steady as the latest jobs report strengthened expectations among traders that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at its next meeting in two weeks. While the report showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected last month, it also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
“This print doesn’t kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to deliver a cut in December,” according to Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September to offer more help for the slowing job market, after bringing inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower interest rates can ease the brakes off the economy, but they can also offer more fuel for inflation.
Expectations for a series of cuts from the Fed have been a major reason the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 56 times so far this year.
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