Wall Street opens higher as jobs report eases inflation concerns
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher today after data showed modest US jobs growth in May, easing concerns about an early tightening of monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent at the open, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.65 per cent.
The S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent as it continued to rally after rising to within 0.6 per cent of its record high last week.
US payrolls shot up by 559,000 last month, the Labor Department said in its highly anticipated employment report today.
The number fell short of economists’ forecasts of 650,000 new jobs in May, offering assurance to investors that the economy was not running too hot.
London markets
London’s FTSE 100 fell today as airlines dragged down the index.
The blue-chip index was down 0.1 per cent this afternoon, as British Airways owner IAG slipped 1.4 per cent after Britain removed Portugal from its quarantine-free travel list.
Other airlines including Ryanair, Wizz Air and EasyJet all fell by at least one per cent.
Meanwhile, the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 also dropped by 0.1 per cent.
Market movers
The afternoon’s biggest winner was publisher Pearson, who rose 2.1 per cent, followed by consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, up by 1.9 per cent.
Johnson Matthey and betting firm Flutter Entertainment also rose 1.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.
Rolls-Royce was the afternoon’s biggest faller, dropping by 2.2 per cent, followed by events group Informa’s 2.1 per cent hit.
Meanwhile, miner Antofagasta and outsourcer Bunzl both dipped by two per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.
Around the world
Asian stocks fell today, dragged by the tech sector as signs of a firming US economy stoked worries about higher inflation and an earlier withdrawal of Fed stimulus.
MCSI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares was off 0.3 per cent, weighed down by a 0.7 per cent slide in Taiwan’s tech-heavy stock market.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4 per cent, while Chinese blue chips rallied 0.6 per cent after Beijing proposed a reduction in stamp duty for led financial firms.
Elsewhere, Australia’s benchmark rose to a record above 7,300 and was up 0.5 per cent.
“The market is still very, very bullish, and the data we got overnight out of the US was very, very positive,” said Kyle Rodda, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne.
“I think the consensus overall is that there’s reasonably limited risk that the Fed is going to pull away the punchbowl.”