Wall Street Hits New Highs, Ignoring Weak Jobs Report; Dow up 75 pts by Investing.com

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com – US equity markets opened new highs again on Friday, poised to end a remarkable week on a high note despite the drama in Washington DC and the weakest labor market report in eight months.

At 9:40 a.m. ET (2:40 p.m. GMT), the score was up 76 points, or 0.2%, to 31,117 points. The was up 0.4% and the was 0.7%. All three had closed at record highs Thursday again.

The market took in its wake figures showing that the economy lost 140,000 jobs in December. The development was widely anticipated after the private payroll processor ADP’s report on Wednesday, and market players were appeased by a big upward revision to November’s hiring figures. The unemployment rate remained at 6.7% of the workforce.

The risks to the economy of a sharp rise in unemployment appear to have been reduced in the short term by the victory of the Democrats in the two Senate elections in Georgia. Their consequent control of the upper house means that the incoming Joe Biden administration will have less resistance to replacing the incomes of those who find themselves out of work due to Covid-19. BlueBay Asset Management chief investment officer Mark Dowding said he expects between $ 1 and $ 2 trillion in additional budget spending that should improve the outlook for GDP this year.

Moreover, added Dowding, the Democrats’ narrow margin of control in Congress means “that much of the more expansive or radical aspects of the Biden agenda are unlikely to emerge.”

“Increased regulation of the energy sector, banking and big tech will likely be watered down in the face of opposition at state level,” Dowding said.

Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 stock rose another 4.4%, adding an additional $ 30 billion to its market value with no news flow beyond the steady rise in analyst price targets, all of whom remain comfortably. below the spot price. His market value surpassed $ 800 billion for the first time, bolstering founder Elon Musk’s new position as the richest man in the world.

Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 stock rose 0.6% after a curious wave of press releases from Korean automaker Hyundai Motor (OTC :), which was forced to return overnight. on the claims about cooperation with the iPhone manufacturer in the automotive sector. sphere.

Various reports have suggested that the company is stepping up efforts to develop a self-driving electric car, a project the company appeared to be on the back burner a few years ago. Quantumscape (NYSE :), whose solid-state battery research had sparked speculation it could partner with Apple in such a venture, made a 0.5% gain.

Connect the power (NASDAQ 🙂 was up another 13% thanks to sustained enthusiasm after South Korean group SK agreed to invest $ 1.5 billion in a joint venture with the developer of hydrogen fuel cells earlier in the week. The business is still not profitable after 20 years, but its market value has grown almost 100% in the past month to over $ 20 billion.