By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Economy adds 257,000 jobs in January
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks fluctuated between small
gains and losses on Friday as a strong jobs report prompted
investors to adjust their expectation about the Federal Reserve's
timing of the first rate hike.
Before the jobs report, markets expected the first rate hike by
December, but a robust report brought forward expectations to
September, judging by the price of Fed funds rate futures, a
widely-used yardstick for measuring the market's rate-hike
expectations.
The Labor Department report showed that the economy added
257,000 jobs in January, while November and December numbers were
revised sharply higher. Another good sign, hourly wages jumped
0.5%. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% from 5.6%,
it suggests that more people are entering the workforce. The U.S.
economy added more than 200,000 jobs for 12 straight months.
The main indexes were set to book solid weekly gains. The
S&P 500 (SPX) inched higher to 2,069. Financials jumped, while
six of 10 main sectors were trading lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) switched between small
gains and losses, with nearly half of its 30 members trading
lower.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) was largely unchanged.
Nonfarm frenzy: After a week focused on earnings, deals and
Greece's tumultuous debt negotiations, attention has shifted back
to hard economic numbers and earnings.
The dollar rallied along with stocks, while 10-year Treasury
yields rose 8 basis points to 1.90% following the jobs report.
The Fed policy committee is schedule to meet in March, with some
analysts expecting a change in the tone of its monetary policy
statement.
Fed speakers: Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, a voting
member of the Federal Open Market Committee, will speak on the
economy to Southwest Florida Business Leaders at 12:45 p.m. Eastern
Time.
Friday earnings: Moody's Corp. (MCO) reported fourth-quarter
earnings of $1.12 a share, beating a consensus estimate gathered
from a FactSet survey.
Madison Square Garden Co.(MSGNV) also beat on fourth-quarter
earnings.
CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE) inched 0.9% higher, even as it
reported earnings slightly lower than expectations.
Movers and shakers: Twitter Inc. (TWTR) surged 10% ahead of the
bell after the social-media company reported adjusted
fourth-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $479.1
million late Thursday, which was ahead of analyst expectations.
LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) jumped 9.7%, after the social-networking
company beat expectations for the fourth quarter.
GoPro Inc. (GPRO), on the other hand, slumped 12% premarket
after the maker of wearable video cameras said it sees earnings for
the current quarter below Wall Street expectations and that its
chief operating officer had resigned. Shares initially soared after
the company late Thursday reported that its fourth-quarter profit
had tripled.
Pandora Media Inc. (P) sank 19% ahead of the open. The
music-streaming service late Thursday reported fourth-quarter
results where revenue and the 2015 outlook missed expectations.
Online travel-services provider Expedia Inc. (EXPE) reported a
drop in fourth-quarter earnings late Thursday, sending the shares
8.5% lower ahead of the bell on Friday.
Harris Corp. (HRS) and Exelis Inc. (XLS) said they have entered
into a definitive agreement, where Harris will buy the aerospace
and defense firm in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $23.75 per
share, or an approximately $4.75 billion enterprise value. Shares
of Exelis soared 34% and Harris jumped 7.6% in premarket trade.
Other markets: Oil futures continued to climb, setting the March
crude contract (CLH5) on track for an 6.9% weekly advance. Metals
(GCJ5) were mixed, while the dollar (DXY) fell against most major
currencies.
Markets in Europe were hit by ongoing jitters about Greece's
bailout program, after a Thursday meeting between Finance Minister
Yanis Varoufakis and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble
showed the two sides are far from reaching a debt deal. Asian
markets closed mixed.
Read: Greece and Germany can't even agree to disagree
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