Stock Market Live May 2: Good Jobs News Is Good News for S&P 500 (VOO)
Key Points
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Jobs growth was stronger than expected in April, apparently contradicting an unemployment report from Thursday.
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Earnings reports continue to come in mixed, but with strong performance by oil and gas companies.
Live Updates
S&P Ends the Week in the Green
The stock market ended on a high note Friday, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% at the closing bell, and the Voo notching a 1.4% gain. Helping to keep investors optimistic today was President Trump, who pointed to the morning’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report that nonfarm payrolls increased by 177,000 jobs as evidence his policies are working, insisted there’s “NO INFLATION” to worry about, and urged the Fed to therefore cut interest rates to keep the rally going.
Rising employment is actually ordinarily considered a factor that tends to raise inflation, and thus a reason to not cut rates. But neither the President, nor investors, are worrying too much about that detail today.
President Trump is Hard on Defense
In defense news, expect both Textron (NYSE: TXT | TXT Price Prediction) and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) to take hits today. The Pentagon is planning to cancel the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle competition, which Textron was expected to win with its Ripsaw drone tank, and also the M10 Booker light tank, built by GD.
Trump Kneecaps Boeing and Lockheed, and Maybe America's Next Trip to the Moon
Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...
It’s been 20 years since the S&P 500 was last able to put together a string of nine straight up days, but if things keep going the way they’re headed, today could be the day they do it again. Between the strong-ish jobs report and comments out of China suggesting they’re prepared to talk tariffs concessions, the index has momentum on its side. In just under six hours, we’ll know if it happened.
The strangest part? This is despite both Apple and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) falling today instead of rising after reporting earnings last night.
The U.S. Labor Department reported rising claims for unemployment on Thursday, leading investors to expect the Fed might soon cut interest rates to head off this trend and help maintain full employment. S&P 500 stocks reacted positively to the news, with both the index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) that tracks it to rise.
One day later, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a completely opposite trend of seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls rising by 177,000 jobs in April. That’s less jobs growth than was seen in March, but much more than the 133,000 jobs economists were forecasting.
Long story short, the jobs market now seems quite a bit healthier than we thought it was just 24 hours ago. And the result of this good news?
Just like yesterday’s bad news, it’s driving stock markets higher. The S&P 500 opened up 1% this morning, and the S&P 500 ETF is up 1.1%.
Earnings
Friday’s are generally slow days for earnings reports, but “slow” is a relative term in the middle of earnings season. More than four dozen companies have reported earnings already today.
Winners today include insurer Cigna (NYSE: CI), chemicals company DuPont (NYSE: DD), and oil majors Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), all S&P 500 components and all reporting earnings beats.
Losers include utility company AES Corp (NYSE: AES) and asset management companies Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) and Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN), all with earnings misses.
Analyst Calls
Wall Street is largely biding its time before making big bets this earnings season, waiting to see how things shake out. Oppenheimer did submit an upgrade today, however, hiking Autozone (NYSE: AZO) to outperform on the theory that auto parts retailers will be “attractive safe havens amid ongoing macro turmoil.”
Conversely, Rosenblatt and Jefferies both downgraded Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock after earnings, to neutral and to underperform, respectively. Jefferies observed that “product [gross margin] is already under pressure,” and said “we believe tariff impact will expand over time.”
Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
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