New York Report: Stocks climb as investors wait for jobs report
US STOCKS mostly rose yesterday, with the S&P 500 closing at yet another record high on better-than-expected jobless claims data and the European Central Bank’s move to keep rates unchanged.
But the overall sentiment was cautious ahead of today’s all-important US nonfarm payrolls report and tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
The CBOE Volatility Index or Vix, Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, ended up 2.3 per cent at 14.21. The Vix generally moves inversely to the performance of the S&P 500 and is often used to hedge against a market decline.
Trading volume was also lower than average, with about 6.4bn shares traded on US exchanges, according to data from Bats Global Markets, below the daily average of about 7bn in the past month.
The day’s biggest gainers were stocks in basic materials, financial and industrial sectors, often associated with strong economic fundamentals. The S&P basic materials index was up 0.4 per cent, the S&P financial index was up 0.7 per cent and the S&P industrials index was up 0.6 per cent.
But the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2 per cent, led lower by Staples, which lost 15.3 per cent. The largest US office supplies retailer forecast a decline in sales. Staples also said it would close up to 225 stores in the US and Canada by 2015.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61.71 points or 0.38 per cent, to end at 16,421.89. The S&P 500 gained 3.22 points or 0.17 per cent, to finish at 1,877.03. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.848 points or 0.13 per cent, to close at 4,352.125.