Reopening Trade Fuels Stock Gains; Yields Tumble: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- A rally in companies that stand to benefit the most from an economic rebound drove stocks higher after solid jobs data and encouraging results from Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 pill study. Treasury 10-year yields sank below 1.5%.

All major equity benchmarks climbed to records, with the S&P 500 posting its fifth consecutive weekly rally -- the longest since August 2020. Industrial and commodity shares outpaced technology firms, though the Nasdaq 100 still rose for a 10th straight day. Airlines, cruise operators, hotels and small caps jumped. Pfizer’s chief told Bloomberg Television the company is aiming to submit data from its experimental pill to U.S. regulators by the Nov. 25 Thanksgiving holiday.

The U.S. labor market got back on track in October, with a larger-than-forecast and broad-based payrolls gain, indicating greater progress filling millions of vacancies as the effects of the delta variant faded. Nonfarm payrolls increased 531,000 after large upward revisions to the prior two months. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, while the labor-force participation rate was unchanged. Average hourly earnings came in line with estimates, rising the most since February.

Comments:

• “The strong jobs report is a welcome sign that the delta wave-driven slowdown was indeed transitory. This bodes well for the expansion, which is set to continue in the coming months, driving earnings and economically sensitive sectors higher,” said Matt Peron, director of research at Janus Henderson Investors.
• “Investors are looking for a modestly growing economy as the Fed starts pulling back the reins, and the October jobs report seems to fit that bill,” said Lindsey Bell, Ally Invest’s chief markets and money strategist.
• “This is the strong progress from the job market that we wanted to see. Some of the pandemic-driven headwinds preventing people from taking open jobs have started to abate, and given strong demand, we expect to see even better numbers in the months ahead,” said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial.

President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. economy is recovering from the pandemic faster and stronger than expected. Meantime, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George noted that bottlenecks contributing to high inflation will persist well into 2022 amid broadening price pressures, suggesting officials should not wait too long to respond.

Some other corporate highlights:

• Airbnb Inc. reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, proving the vacation-rental giant’s resilience even as the delta variant of Covid-19 prompted new travel concerns and restrictions.
• Sports-betting company DraftKings Inc. reported third-quarter sales that missed Wall Street estimates, due in part to unfavorable NFL game outcomes.
• Peloton Interactive Inc. cut its annual revenue forecast by as much as $1 billion and lowered its projections for subscribers and profit margins, underscoring the fitness company’s struggles to adjust to a post-pandemic economy.

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
• The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
• The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.4%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
• The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1566
• The British pound was little changed at $1.3493
• The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 113.36 per dollar

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined eight basis points to 1.45%
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to -0.28%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined 10 basis points to 0.85%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.5% to $81.53 a barrel
• Gold futures rose 1.4% to $1,818.90 an ounce

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