Friends
Did I mention that jobs day can be volatile? Remember, analysts were expecting that about 170,000 new jobs were created in September and most market participants would have been fine with a number less than that. Surprise, surprise. There were 336,000 new jobs created in September, and both the July and August jobs numbers were revised substantially higher. Once again, the Eagles song Hotel California comes to mind-“they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast”. The Fed’s tightening policies have been aimed right at the labor market, but they just can’t seem to even slow it down much less kill it.
So, of course bond yields shot higher at the open and stocks fell. The 10-year hit a yield of 4.88% and the Dow fell nearly 300 points. But, around midday things began to turn. The 10-year yield fell back about 10 basis points and stocks rocketed higher. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 288 points to close at 33,407. The S&P 500 was up 50 points to close at 4,308. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 211 points to close at 13,431. Gold was up $12 to trade at $1,844 per ounce, while oil was up $.57 to trade at $82.88 per barrel WTI.
The markets love to frustrate as many participants as possible and today the bears thought they had the set up for a stock and bond implosion. But, alas, the bulls actually got a reprieve. Technically both stocks and bonds were oversold and a rally in both was probably due at any moment. Will today’s reversal play into next week? Time will tell. Stay tuned.
Have a great weekend everyone.
