U.S. stocks trade higher amid Fed chair's dovish remarks on rate hikes, strong job data
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E-mail Xinhua, January 5, 2019
NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman stressed patience in future rate hikes and U.S. Labor Department reported stronger-than-expected job growth on Friday.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 590.07 points, or 2.60 percent, to 23,276.29. The S&P 500 rose 66.17 points, or 2.70 percent, to 2514.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index was dramatically up 234.43 points, or 3.63 percent, to 6,697.94.
Fed chairman Jeremy Powell has instilled calm into the U.S. stock markets as he said the central bank would remain patient in hiking benchmark overnight lending rates. He stressed Fed's future move will depend on "how the economy evolves."
"As always, there is no preset path for policy," Powell said. "And particularly with muted inflation readings that we've seen coming in, we will be patient as we watch to see how the economy evolves."
All of the 11 primary sectors rallied around midday, with the information technology sector up nearly 4 percent and the consumer discretionary up over 3.2 percent, leading the winners.
Rebounds in tech shares grew further around midday, eroding some of the grave tumbles of U.S. stocks previously this week.
Shares of Netflix and Intel bounced respectively over 8 percent and over 5 percent around midday, after leading U.S. financial institutions upgraded ratings of the two companies' stocks.
Shares of Tesla jumped up over 3 percent around midday, as it announced earlier Friday its plan to deliver the Model 3 to China in March, according to the Chinese official website of the company.
On the economic front, upbeat job market data helped recover some momentum for the U.S. economic growth.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 312,000 in December, exceeding market expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics under Labor Department reported on Friday.
Job gains occurred in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, manufacturing, and retail trade.
Yet the unemployment rate went up to 3.9 percent, which was highest level since July, 2018. Enditem
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