US Stocks climb to records on strong economic data

The US stocks continued upward journey on Monday, 05 April 2021, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 surging to records, thanks to better than expected jobs reports and the services sector data.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 373.98 points or 1.13% to 33,527 and the S&P 500 added 58.04 points or 1.44% to 4,078. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed up 225.49 points or to 1.67% 13,706.

With the U.S. stock market closed Friday, it was the market's first reaction to the latest jobs report, which showed that U.S. hiring jumped in March. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 916,000 jobs last month. Investors were further encouraged by a report Monday showing that the services sector recorded record growth in March as orders, hiring and prices surged.

Technology and communications stocks accounted for a big slice of the gains Monday. Apple rose 2.4%, Microsoft gained 2.8% and Facebook climbed 3.4%. Tesla s surged 4.4% after announcing a report that vehicle deliveries doubled during the first quarter.

Shares of energy companies fell as crude oil prices fell. Occidental Petroleum dropped 7.6% and Marathon Oil slid 5.1%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Report from the Labor Department showed employment in the U.S. spiked by much more than expected in the month of March. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 916,000 jobs in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 468,000 jobs in February. The stronger than expected job growth resulted in a continued decrease by the unemployment rate, which fell to 6.0 percent in March from 6.2 percent in February.

Separately, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing its reading on activity in the service sector soared to an all-time high in March. The ISM said its Services PMI surged up to 63.7 in March from 55.3 in February, with a reading above 50 indicating growth.

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