Stocks traded in a wide range Friday, sinking deep into the red mid-morning in reaction to the latest jobs report. However, the main indexes were in positive territory by the close after an early afternoon speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell brought bulls back to the table.
Ahead of the open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. added 151,000 new jobs in February – more than in January but fewer than the 160,000 that economists expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0%, while average hourly earnings increased 0.3% month to month and 4% year over year.
“The February jobs report likely doesn’t change the Fed’s thought process all too much,” says Jason Pride, chief of Investment Strategy & Research at Glenmede.
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Pride expects the central bank to keep interest rates unchanged at its next two gatherings, but says June could be “a live meeting” given the “uncertainties regarding trade policy.”
Powell sticks to the script
In today’s speech at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chair Powell reiterated confidence in the economy and said that inflation remains on a path lower, albeit a bumpy one. “Inflation can be volatile month to month, and we do not overreact to one or two readings that are higher or lower than anticipated,” he said.
Powell added that the Fed does not need to be in a hurry to cut rates and that the central bank “is well-positioned to wait for greater clarity.”
Investors appeared to like what Chair Powell had to say, with the main indexes erasing late-morning losses of 1%+ to end in the green. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 42,801, the S&P 500 had gained 0.6% to 5,770, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher at 18,196. Still, all three were lower on a weekly basis.
“Markets have been fully unimpressed [this week] by both the tariffs, and retaliatory measures, but perhaps most of all by the sheer randomness of the trade news,” says Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
“The tariff whiplash has lashed sentiment,” Porter adds, with high-flying, high-multiple stocks “being hit the hardest.” Indeed, each of the Magnificent 7 stocks closed down on the week, with Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) seeing the biggest declines.
In single-stock news, Broadcom (AVGO) jumped 8.6% after the chipmaker reported earnings. For its fiscal first quarter, AVGO said earnings were up 45% year over year to $1.60 per share, while revenue jumped 25% to $14.9 billion. The results beat analysts’ expectations as did the company’s fiscal second-quarter revenue forecast.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan credited strength in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor solutions and infrastructure software for the solid results. He expects AI semiconductor revenue to hit $4.4 billion in fiscal Q2.
“Broadcom’s results show us that the AI trade is far from over, as the company continues to exhibit leadership within semis,” says Jamie Meyers, senior analyst at Laffer Tengler Investments.
Say goodbye to Walgreens stock
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) was another gainer on Friday, adding 7.5% after the pharmacy chain confirmed that it will be taken private by Sycamore Partners. The total enterprise value of the deal is $23.7 billion and the equity value is closer to $10 billion, or $11.45 per WBA share. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
It’s been rough sledding for the former blue chip stock, which was replaced by Amazon.com (AMZN) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average a little over a year ago. In the past 12 months, Walgreens has shed nearly half of its value.