Stocks were mostly up on Friday but mostly lower for the week.
United States
US stocks were up Friday — banks and other financial companies made big gains after President Donald Trump moved to scale back regulations on the financial industry. Other stocks also advanced on the positive employment report. The Dow Jones industrials were up 0.9 percent, the S&P gained 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.5 percent. For the week, the Dow slipped 0.1 percent while both the S&P and Nasdaq added 0.1 percent.
January employment was up a much larger than anticipated 227,000 — analysts expected an increase of 175,000. However, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.8 percent largely because of an increase in the participation rate to 62.9 percent from 62.7 percent the month before.
On Friday Mr Trump directed the Treasury Secretary to look for potential changes to the Dodd-Frank law, which reshaped financial regulations after the 2008-09 financial crisis. The order does not have any immediate impact, but investors applauded its intent. Trump also signed a memorandum that delayed an Obama-era rule that requires financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients’ interests first when giving advice on retirement investments.
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Texas Capital Bancshares and East West Bancorp advanced. Visa gained after it said that shoppers stepped up their use of debit and credit cards in the latest quarter. The company also benefited from its acquisition of Visa Europe. Its profit and revenue were stronger than expected. Amazon declined as investors grew concerned about its sales. The company’s fourth quarter sales fell short of estimates and so did its forecast for revenue in the current quarter.
Macy’s soared after the Wall Street Journal reported that Hudson’s Bay, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, could buy the department store chain. The companies declined to comment. Amgen advanced after it disclosed a bigger profit and better sales than expected. It also reported results from a study that showed its new cholesterol drug reduced the risk of death, heart attack and stroke in patients with advanced atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Hanesbrands retreated after it announced surprisingly weak holiday sales and gave disappointing projections for the year. Bristow Group posted a gain after reporting a narrower than expected third quarter loss.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was down US$6.75 to US$1,215.20. Copper futures were down 2.6 percent to US$2.62. WTI spot crude was up 29 US cents to US$53.83. Dated Brent spot crude was up 25 US cents to US$56.81. The US dollar was up against the pound and the Swiss franc. It was unchanged against the yen. The US currency declined against the euro and the Canadian and Australian dollars. The Dollar Index was down 0.1 percent. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was unchanged at 3.09 percent while the yield on the 10 year note slipped 1 basis point to 2.46 percent.
Europe
Stocks in Europe were higher Friday in choppy trading. Banks were among the best performing stocks at the end of the week on reports that US President Trump will take action to reduce regulations on the banking industry. Investor sentiment also received a boost from the stronger than expected US jobs report. The FTSE was up 0.7 percent, the CAC gained 0.6 percent, the DAX edged up 0.2 percent and the SMI added 0.9 percent. For the week, the FTSE managed to edge up 0.1 percent but the CAC and SMI both lost 0.3 percent while the DAX dropped 1.4 percent.
Retail giant Metro retreated after its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 64 percent to €200 million, hurt by currency fluctuations. Banks including Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale finished higher. ITV increased on a brokerage upgrade. Homeserve dipped after it acquired stakes in two tradesman checking sites for a total of £37 million. Beazley jumped after the risk insurance and reinsurance provider lifted its dividend after reporting a 3 percent increase in full-year pretax profit.
Ryanair Holdings gained after reporting increases in traffic and load factor in January. Both Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland gained. Banco Popular sank in Madrid after reporting a massive annual loss, hit by extraordinary provisions and additional charges to clean up its balance sheet. Royal Dutch Shell, Tullow Oil and BP advanced. Glencore, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta retreated.
Eurozone retail sales dropped 0.3 percent unexpectedly in December on food and auto fuel sales. The Eurozone composite output index held steady at 54.4 in January. UK service sector growth eased more-than-expected. The CIPS services PMI reading dropped to 54.5 from 56.2 in December.
Asia Pacific
Stocks were mixed Friday and mostly lower for the week. Investors remained wary about US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies. The People’s Bank of China unexpectedly raised short-term interest rates in open market operations on the first day after the Lunar New Year holidays, putting pressure on the bond market.
The Shanghai Composite was down 0.6 percent for the day and week. The Hang Seng lost 0.2 percent on the day and 1.0 percent on the week. The manufacturing PMI for January missed forecasts an slid to a reading of 51.0 from 51.9 in December.
The Nikkei was virtually unchanged Friday (up 3.62 points) while the Topix added 0.3 percent. On the week, the Nikkei declined 2.8 percent and the Topix was 2.2 percent lower. Sumitomo Metal Mining, Pacific Metals, Sony and Sumitomo Electric Industries gained. Sony climbed after its PlayStation business showed healthy growth in the third quarter and the company said it won’t sell its struggling movie and TV business. Murata Manufacturing advanced on a Nikkei report that Samsung Electronics is discussing a supply deal with the company for making batteries for its next-generation Galaxy S8 smartphones.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries were 0.4 percent lower Friday and down 1.6 percent on the week. Miners led declines, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, South32 and Fortescue Metals Group retreating. Oil Search, Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum were lower after oil futures gave back early gains to close lower on Thursday despite growing tensions between the United States and Iran. Virgin Australia declined — the airline said tough conditions in the domestic aviation market hurt its second-quarter earnings. Gold miners Newcrest Mining and Evolution rose after gold prices hit 11-week highs overnight.
The Kospi edged up 0.1 percent but was down 0.5 percent on the week. The Sensex was virtually unchanged (up 13.91 points) and was up 1.3 percent from a week ago. While continued strength in rupee underpinned sentiment, mixed service sector data, lingering concerns over US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting prompted traders to book profits after recent sharp gains.
Looking Forward

Central Bank activities

Feb 7

Australia

Reserve Bank of Australia Monetary Policy Meeting

Feb 8

India

Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Meeting

Feb 9

New Zealand

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Monetary Policy Meeting

The following indicators will be released this week…

Europe

Feb 6

Germany

Manufacturers Orders (December)

Feb 7

Germany

Industrial Production (December)

France

Merchandise Trade (December)

Feb 9

Germany

Merchandise Trade (December)

Feb 10

France

Industrial Production (December)

UK

Industrial Production (December)

Merchandise Trade (December)

Asia Pacific

Feb 6

Australia

Retail Sales (December)

Feb 9

Japan

Machinery Orders (December)

Feb 10

Japan

Producer Price Index (January)

China

Merchandise Trade (January)

India

Industrial Production (December)

Americas

Feb 7

Canada

Merchandise Trade Balance (December)

United States

International Trade Balance (December)

JOLTS (December)

Feb 8

Canada

Housing Starts (January)

Feb 9

United States

Initial Unemployment Claims (week ending prior Saturday)

Feb 10

Canada

Labour Force Survey (January)

United States

Import/Export Prices (January)

Consumer Sentiment (February preliminary)

Global Stock Markets

*Note — all releases are listed in local time.

Source: Fidelity

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