Advertisement
New Zealand markets closed
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NZD/USD

    0.5975
    -0.0031 (-0.51%)
     
  • NZD/EUR

    0.5533
    -0.0009 (-0.17%)
     
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • NZD/JPY

    90.4430
    -0.3370 (-0.37%)
     

Stocks End Lower After Upbeat Jobs Report

U.S. Market
Stocks were lower today after a better-than-expected jobs report.

The U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February, well above the 240,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% from 5.7% due to people dropping out of the workforce. The report raised expectations that the Fed would raise short-term rates sooner rather than later.

The U.S. trade deficit shrank 8.4% to $41.8 billion in January from the previous month. Exports fell 2.9% in the month while imports were off 3.9%.

At market close the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 1.5%, 1.4% and 1.1% respectively.

Stocks on the Move
Shares of Staples (SPLS) were down 2.7% after the firm reported fourth-quarter results. The firm said it lost 41 cents a share in the quarter as management took a write-down on its international businesses. Excluding charges, the firm’s earnings were in line with expectations as total sales fell 3.7%.

The Fed announced late Thursday that all 31 banks subject to its stress test passed both the severely adverse and adverse stress-case scenarios. The results were as expected, and the Fed will now move to approving the bank’s capital plan for the year.