Stocks extend September rally after Jobs Report

As a result of positive economic news, the overall stock market ended its only winning week in an entire month.

The Dow Jones average rose 128 points on Friday, which marked its fourth day in a row of gains. This strong beginning to September indicates a turnaround from the bleak performance in August.

The latest happy news on the economy was reported with an improvement in employment on Friday. Following this and signs of a gaining in manufacturing in China and the US, stocks also rose earlier in the week.

However, even after a four-day run and 438 points added to the Dow, it is still 6.8 percent under the high reached on April 26, 2010. Stocks eased a bit after a reported indicating the services sector did not expand as fast as projected.

The Labor Department claimed private employer had added 67,000 jobs in the month of August, which more than the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecasted. But it is still a long way from what economists believe is a necessary level for a healthy economy.

Experts have said that number needs to be over the 100,000 mark to comfortably say we will not fall into recession again. That number needs to rise above 150,000 for economists to believe we’ve reached sustainable recovery in the US.

The Dow closed at 127.83, 1.2 percent, at 10,447.93.

Also rising this week were broader indexes. The S&P 500 index reported to rise 14.41, 1.3 percent, to and end of 1,104.51. The Nasdaq total index rose 33.74, 1.5 percent, ending at 2,233.75.

An average ratio of 3:1 stocks rose on the NY Stock Exchange, and consolidated volume ended fairly light at 3.6 billion in shares.

Bond prices, however, fell as overall sentiment on the economy seemed to improve, thus sending the interest rates a bit higher. The yield on 10-year treasury notes rose to 2.71 percent from the percent late last Thursday, 2.63 percent. This yield is generally used to gauge the coming interest rates on consumer loans and mortgages. 

More encouraging news has made its way to investors as reports on the overall economy through the last three days have been more positive than in August. The reports which began with Wednesday’s positive manufacturing data began a rally at the start Of September, which is usually a bad month in stocks.

Other positive signs of improvement in employment reports on Friday included some revisions to the reports in June and July that showed more added jobs than previously stated.

Over a 500,000 Americans resumed work searches in August. This drove the unemployment rates up to 9.6 percent from the previous 9.5 percent, but is actually a sign of more hope for the economy.