BLBG: U.S. Stocks Rise as Jobs Report Shows Increase in Hiring
U.S. stocks rose, after the best start to a year for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1997, as data showed hiring increased in January after accelerating more than previously estimated at the end of 2012.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 1,504.63 at 9:31 a.m. in New York.
“The jobs report shows that the corner was turned,” said Richard Sichel, who oversees about $1.8 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co. He spoke in a phone interview. “The revision from the prior month is positive. There’s indication that hiring will pick up over the course of the year. It certainly boosts investors’ optimism along with good corporate earnings.”
Payrolls rose 157,000 following a revised 196,000 advance in the prior month and a 247,000 surge in November, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The revisions added a total of 127,000 jobs to the employment count in November and December. The jobless rate increased to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent.
A separate release at 10 a.m. today will show that a measure of manufacturing rose to 50.6 in January from a revised 50.2 in December, according to economists. Readings greater than 50 mean that activity increased.
GDP Report
U.S. benchmark equity indexes slipped from a five-year high earlier in the week as a report showed U.S. gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter.
Including dividends, the S&P 500 rallied 5.2 percent last month for its best January return since 1997, leading global stocks higher and beating bonds, commodities and currencies. About $2.6 trillion was added to the value of equities worldwide last month as earnings from companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. beat estimates and U.S. lawmakers forged a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic spending cuts and tax increases.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are among 14 companies in the S&P 500 scheduled to report earnings today. About 73 percent of the 254 companies from the gauge that have released results this earnings season have exceeded profit projections, and 65 percent have beaten sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net; Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
