On Friday, U.S. stock markets and Treasury yields saw a surge in response to the March labor report. However, the report showed that the economy is faring better than expected. Specifically, S&P 500 futures rose as investors took the report as a sign of strength and optimism for the coming months. The report showed that the U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March, far exceeding expectations of 675,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 6%.
S&P 500 future shows positive moves
The S&P 500 futures gained a modest 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.1% for the week. However, the Dow managed to eke out a modest gain of 0.2%, despite being down by as much as 1.3% earlier in the week.
The benchmark S&P 500 index ended its three-week winning streak on Thursday, declining 0.1% for the week. The market has recently experienced a bullish run for the past three weeks, buoyed by strong jobs data and an overall optimistic outlook from investors. However, this week’s labor market report showed a sharp slowdown in job growth. Thus Caused investor sentiment to turn bearish and led to the index’s decline.
Overall, it was a volatile period for the markets, and investors were largely cautious. This was due to uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, particularly with regard to global trade and geopolitical tensions.
