US stocks on Friday capped a bumpy day of trading with modest gains, extending the market’s winning streak to its third straight day.
Gains in technology companies, energy stocks and banks outweighed losses in retailers and elsewhere in the market.
Major indices were higher much of the morning as investors applauded a burst of hiring last month by US employers. However, that enthusiasm was tempered by a disappointing revenue outlook from Amazon.com Inc.
The solid jobs report came two days after investors got encouraging news from the US Federal Reserve, which confirmed that it would be “patient” in deciding when to raise interest rates.
That policy shift, which the Fed signaled early last month, helped spur a turnaround in the market that led to it closing out the month with the biggest monthly gain since 2015.
That strong finish to the month, in addition to the latest jobs report, might have given some investors reason to take a breather on Friday, resulting in the market barely squeaking out a gain.
“There’s going to be a vacuum of positive catalysts next week, with the exception of a few individual earnings reports,” Charles Schwab Corp vice president of trading and derivatives Randy Frederick said.
“With this type of a rally behind us, it just looks to me like we’re running out of a little bit of steam here in the near term,” he said.
The S&P 500 on Friday rose 2.43 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,706.53, gaining 1.6 percent from a close of 2,664.76 on Jan. 25.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday gained 64.22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,063.89, an increase of 1.3 percent from 24,737.20 a week earlier.
The NASDAQ Composite on Friday dropped 17.87 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,263.87, but climbed 1.4 percent from 7,164.86 on Jan. 25.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies on Friday picked up 2.64 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,502.05, rising 1.3 percent from a close of 1,482.85 a week earlier.
Stocks got an early boost as investors welcomed the latest monthly US hiring snapshot.
US employers last month added 304,000 jobs, far more than the 165,000 that economists were expecting.
The US government also revised its figures for December last year sharply lower, from 312,000 to 222,000.
Even with the revision, hiring has accelerated since last summer, a development that has surprised economists, because hiring typically slows when unemployment is so low.
Despite the strong jobs report in the US, investors were seeing signs of weakness elsewhere in the global economy.
Inflation among the 19 countries that use the euro eased last month, a sign of weakness in a region already beset by many challenges. Italy is in a recession and Britain appears to be headed for a disorderly exit from the EU.
In the US, consumer confidence last month fell for a third straight month, the housing market is slumping as mortgage rates steadily increase and sales of existing homes in December plunged and fell 3.1 percent last year.
Protracted trade wars between the US and its trading partners has continued to be a significant worry for investors.
On Friday, the EU introduced new measures to prevent steel produced for the US market from flooding into Europe.
Two days of trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday without a deal, but with an upbeat outlook. The continued negotiations came as investors were worried about a slowdown in China and the damage the tariffs could cause to the US economy by raising prices on consumer products.
Amazon’s latest outlook on Friday disappointed investors and weighed on the broader retail sector.
The e-commerce giant cashed in on a strong holiday shopping season and the company’s quarterly earnings topped US$3 billion for the first time.
Profit and revenue beat Wall Street forecasts, but the results could not outweigh disappointment over the company’s outlook.
Amazon expects sales of between US$56 billion and US$60 billion, while Wall Street analysts expected US$60 billion. The stock fell 5.4 percent to US$1,626.23.
Other big retailers also traded lower.
Kohl’s Corp slid 2.9 percent to US$66.69 and Target Corp dropped 2.5 percent to US$71.17.
Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp made gains after beating forecasts, despite a highly volatile period for oil prices.
The price of benchmark US crude fell about 40 percent in the final quarter of last year. That sharp drop followed a year of price gains. For Exxon, it was the most profitable year since 2014.
Exxon rose 3.6 percent to US$75.92 and Chevron gained 3.2 percent to US$118.37.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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