(As of 7:05 am PST)
Stocks opened lower after a long holiday weekend as
investors returned to trade Friday’s weaker-than-expected jobs report. US benchmarks opened lower across the board,
but are steadily crawling back to the unchanged line in the first hour of the session.
Friday’s non-farm payrolls report severely missed expectations as the private sector
added only 126,000 jobs in March – far below the consensus estimate of 243,000.
The disappointing report (which came during a closed trading session on Good
Friday) has added to concerns over corporate profit reports for the first
quarter. This morning’s seesaw trade may reflect the market’s bifurcated view
of the report. On the one hand, the weak jobs number may mean the Fed pushes
out its rate hike even further down the road. On the other hand, the report may
reflect the difficulties companies are having to grow profits in light of a strengthening
dollar and weakening oil prices. In any case, this morning’s action is of
little surprise as investors continue to struggle with the direction the stock
market goes from here. In overseas action, Asian and European markets were
mixed. Oil and gold prices are both rallying today on a weakening US dollar
while interest rates rose slightly.
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