Equities Up Despite Jobs Miss, Investors Note Jobs Added In Right Sector

Despite a disappointing nonfarm payroll figure, stocks pushed higher to close out a strong week.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68, or 0.4 percent to close at 17,137.
• The S&P 500 gained 10 points, or 0.5 percent to close at 2,008.
• The Nasdaq added 21 points, or 0.5 percent to close at 4,583.

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Only 142,000 jobs were added to the economy in August compared to the 230,000 estimate. 209,000 jobs were added the month before. Despite a big miss on the headline figure, Chief Strategist at TD Ameritrade, JJ Kinahan, says the report is not as bad as it seems.

“Look where jobs were created. Jobs were created in industries where you want to see creation.” Business services led the way, followed by health care and construction. JJ Continued: “If we can get manufacturing up, it was flat for this report, you are hitting on the cylinders you want.”

Alibaba BABA is expected to start the roadshow for its initial public offering next week. Shares are expected to go public on September 19, according to the New York Times. The company could be valued at $162 billion, making it the largest IPO ever.

Shares of Walgreen Company WAG moved higher on a rumor that Carl Icahn has taken a position in the company to push for a tax inversion. This rumor comes shortly after the pharmacy chain said it would keep its headquarters in the United States.

Stock Movers

Infoblox BLOX shares shot up 4.6 percent to $14.21 after the company reported upbeat results for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Shares of Ambarella AMBA got a boost, shooting up 3.2 percent to $36.90 on upbeat quarterly results.

El Pollo Loco Holdings LOCO shares were also up, gaining 3.05 percent to $35.85 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Shares of Zumiez ZUMZ were down 8.3 percent to $29.73 after the company issued a weak third-quarter earnings forecast. However, the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Zumiez from Overweight to Neutral.

The Gap GPS shares tumbled 4.2 percent to $44.65 after the company posted a two percent drop in August same-store sales, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.6 percent gain.

Michael Kors Holdings KORS was down, falling 4.5 percent to $76.39 after the company priced 11.6 million shares at $76.75 per share.

Global markets

Asian markets gave up some ground after Thursday’s rally. The Shanghai index rose 0.85 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei sold off 0.1 percent on the session.

Similarly, Europe finished the week lower. The Euro Stoxx index, which tracks 50 blue chips dropped 0.1 percent, London’s FTSE dropped 0.3 percent and France’s CAC fell 0.2 percent.

Commodities

Gold futures ticked higher on the weak headline jobs figure. Contracts last traded at $1,268, a 0.1 percent gain for the session.

Crude, on the other hand, continued its move lower and is once again approaching the $93 support level. Futures contracts gave up 1.1 percent to $93.44.

Currencies

The Powershares Dollar ETF UUP, which tracks the value of the US dollar versus a basket of foreign currencies, was flat Friday. This comes after the dollar make a 2014 higher yesterday on the ECB policy change.

The closely watched EUR/USD pair gained back some ground after making a one year low Thursday. The couple was last up 0.05 percent.