FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone breaks down the May jobs report.
U.S. equity markets surged Friday morning after the economy unexpectedly added jobs in May as businesses began reopening their doors following lockdowns ordered to slow the spread of COVID-19.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 673 points, or 2.56 percent, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.96 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 27033.46 | +751.64 | +2.86% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3179.77 | +67.42 | +2.17% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 9771.41731 | +155.60 | +1.62% |
The U.S. economy added 2.51 million jobs in May as the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent, according to a report released Friday morning by the Labor Department. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitv were expecting the economy to lose 8 million jobs as the unemployment rate spiked to 19.8 percent.
President Trump, who posted an enthusiastic tweet afterward, will be holding a 10 a.m. ET press conference at the White House to discuss the report.
The labor market may see further gains in the month of June after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said New York City will begin its Phase 1 reopening on Monday, allowing construction, manufacturing and limited retail services to restart.
Air carriers continued to soar after United Airlines announced plans to reinstate flights to 150 destinations beginning in July. Rival American Airlines announced on Thursday it would increase its flight schedule to 55 percent capacity.
Meanwhile, Hertz shares surged on the heels of the positive travel updates. The car-rental company filed for bankruptcy on May 22.
Other travel-related names, including cruise operators, hotels and booking sites also outperformed.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HLDG. | 44.93 | +5.83 | +14.91% |
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 20.13 | +3.41 | +20.37% |
| HTZ | HERTZ GLOBAL HLDGS | 3.0145 | +1.51 | +100.97% |
| CCL | CARNIVAL CORP. | 21.89 | +3.41 | +18.45% |
| EXPE | EXPEDIA GROUP, INC. | 91.67 | +1.79 | +1.99% |
In retail, embattled department store J.C. Penney is closing 154 sites in 38 states as it reorganizes its business after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.
On the earnings front, Gap lost nearly $1 billion during the three months through March as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to shutter stores. The retailer said 55 percent of its locations have reopened and online sales are strong.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCP | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| GPS | GAP | 11.34 | -0.80 | -6.59% |
Messaging platform Slack was under pressure as first-quarter revenue growth was little changed despite the majority of Americans working from home.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WORK | SLACK TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 32.10 | -5.84 | -15.39% |
West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 4.09 percent to $38.94 per barrel after OPEC and its allies neared a deal to extend production cuts through July. Gold was down 2.65 percent near $1,682 an ounce.
U.S. Treasurys remained under pressure, with selling driving the yield on the 10-year note up 10.5 basis points to 0.925 percent.
In Europe, France’s CAC advanced 3.43 percent, Germany’s DAX climbed 3.07 percent and Britain’s FTSE rose 2.09 percent.
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Asian markets rallied across the board, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 1.66 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.74 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively.
