Stocks Move Higher As Unemployment Rate Declines To 6.3%

Stocks Set To Finish The Week On A Strong Note

The U.S. has just released Non Farm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate reports for January.

Non Farm Payrolls report indicated that the economy added 49,000 jobs compared to analyst consensus of 50,000. Meanwhile, Unemployment Rate declined from 6.7% in December to 6.3% in January.

On Wednesday, ADP Employment Change report indicated that private businesses hired 174,000 workers in January. On Thursday, the Initial Jobless Claims report showed that the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits in a week decreased from 812,000 to 779,000.

All recent employment reports highlighted the recovery in the job market which is positive for the market. S&P 500 futures are gaining ground in premarket trading, and stocks look ready to test new highs.

Oil Hits New Highs

WTI oil continues to move higher and is currently trying to settle above the $57 level. Meanwhile, Brent oil has recently made an attempt to get to the test of the psychologically important $60 level, highlighting the current bullish mood in the oil market.

Oil traders managed to shrug off worries about problems with mass vaccination in Europe and focused on Saudi Arabia’s production cuts and the recent inventory data which indicated that crude inventories continued to decline.

If WTI oil manages to stay above the $55 level in the upcoming trading sessions, investors’ money will likely flow into commodity-related stocks, and the current upside move will continue.

Rising Treasury Yields Provide Support To U.S. Dollar

The yield of 10-year Treasuries has recently increased to 1.17% and is close to yearly highs as investors prepare for the upcoming major stimulus package.

U.S. Senate has recently passed a budget plan which will allow Democrats to get the package through the Congress without Republican support.

Rising yields have clearly provided significant support to the American currency in recent trading sessions. At the same time, they put material pressure on gold and silver which are sensitive to changes in yields.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.