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* US labor market slows as COVID-19 pandemic rages on
* Energy and other cyclical sectors lead gains
* US 10-year yield hits highest since March, supporting financials (updated with US trading close)
December 4 (Reuters) – Major Wall Street indices hit all-time highs on Friday, as data showing the slowest U.S. job growth in six months raised investor expectations for a new budget relief bill to help revive the coronavirus-hit economy.
So-called “cyclical” stocks considered particularly sensitive to the economy, such as energy, materials and industrials, shone with the rise in most sectors of the S&P 500.
The closely watched Labor Department report showed the non-farm workforce increased by 245,000 jobs in November, below economists’ expectations of 469,000 jobs and the smallest gain since the return to work began in May.
President-elect Joe Biden said Friday’s ‘grim’ jobs report shows the economic recovery has stalled and warned that the coming ‘dark winter’ would make the pain worse unless the US Congress did. immediately pass a coronavirus relief bill.
“The bad news of the weakening jobs situation is potentially good news for investors, because it means the stimulus bill is much more likely to unfold in a fairly short period of time,” said Ryan Detrick, Senior Market Strategist at LPL Financial in North Carolina. .
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 246.27 points, or 0.82%, to 30,215.79, the S&P 500 gained 32.4 points, or 0.88%, to 3699.12 and the Nasdaq Composite added 87.05 points, or 0.7%, to 12,464.23.
The benchmark 10-year yield hit its highest level since March at over 0.98%, helping to support highly interest-sensitive financial stocks.
Energy stocks were also supported by higher oil prices, with shares of Diamondback Energy Inc and Occidental Petroleum surging.
“There’s just a lot of catching up with these sectors and sub-sectors that have really struggled since the start of the year,” said Eric Freedman, chief investment officer at US Bank Wealth Management.
Utilities lagged the most among the major sectors.
Positive coronavirus vaccine updates from drugmakers have raised investor hope for an economic recovery next year and overshadowed concerns about a spike in infections in the United States. (Additional reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Sriraj Kalluvila and Diane Craft)
