Friends
Today’s jobs number came in higher than expected, 275,000 new jobs created in February vs. the 198,000 expected. But, and this is actually probably good news for stocks, last month’s blowout number was revised down. Also, probably good for stocks was the unemployment rate ticking up to 3.9%. Why are these things good for stocks? Well, it probably gives the Fed more comfort that the likelihood is that the labor market is finally cooling off which is less inflationary. Interestingly though, stocks struggled throughout the trading session with big names like Nvidia tumbling. Costco, whose stock has been trading like a biotech selling weight loss drugs, finally hit a wall after their earnings release yesterday. A great company whose stock needed a breather.
Anyway, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 68 points to finish the day at 38,722. The S&P 500 was down 33 points to close at 5,123. The Nasdaq was down 188 points to close at 16,085. Gold was up $19 to trade at $2,184 per ounce, while oil was down $1.05 to trade at $77.88 per barrel WTI.
The narrative now is that the Fed should be able to begin lowering the Fed Funds rate by the summer. We will see.
Have a great weekend everyone.
