Friends
The big news over the weekend was oil production cuts announced by OPEC. This sent oil prices soaring to more than $80 per barrel. But the bulls were not to be deterred. Instead of shares of technology companies that led the way in the first quarter of the year, market participants bought shares in energy companies in today’s trading session helping to push the Dow and the S&P 500 higher. The Nasdaq struggled, understandable as few energy names reside there but many tech names do.
As for the day, by the close the Dow Jones industrial Average was up 327 points to finish the day at 33,601. The S&P 500 was up 15 points to close at 4,124. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 32 points to close at 12,189. Gold was up $16 to trade at $2,002 per ounce, while oil was up $4.66 to trade at $80.33 per barrel WTI.
This is a very busy week, unlike last week, with regards to economic data. We’ll get data on factory orders, job openings, the ISM services PMI, the trade deficit, jobless claims, private payrolls and finally on Friday the Government non-farm payrolls number. Remember the last two job reports were hotter than expected. This time analysts are expecting that about 240,000 new jobs were created in March. Buckle up it looks like it will be a busy week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
