Dow 15,000 Record, Unemployment Rate Lowest in 4 Years: Is There Hope?
Stocks on Wall Street surged Friday reaching a record high during the first hour of trading, offering hope of an improved economy and job market.
The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 15,000 for the first time, up 155 points from where it started on Friday. A more broad market measure, Standard and Poor's 500 index, rose 20 points passing 1,600.
On the same day, the U.S. government announced that 165,000 jobs were created in April. Unemployment also dropped to its lowest in four years, down to 7.5 percent. And the market could improve even further by the end of the day. But for how long?
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"It's going to be the first time we put two weeks together in a row to the upside in about eight weeks … so that' the good news," Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets, told CBN. "But the bad news is that we've run out of catalysts next week-earnings season is virtually over and the macro is very quiet."
The job market could also be in question. While it shows promise, says one expert, the unemployment rate is still exceptionally high.
"The [jobs] number beat consensus and also importantly, the revision from last month tells the story of a not-as-sluggish labor market," Troy Logan, managing director and senior economist at Warren Financial Service, told the news service. "However, the unemployment rate is still high. So that tells us that the Fed is going to continue with its accommodative policy – that means we have Fed support, which is good for asset prices and a jobs market which is not getting worse."
European markets have also made a turn for the better and prices of oil went up while the value of gold went down.
Positive numbers, however, didn't stop skeptics from doubting the market and whatever is fueling it.
