According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment fell by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3% in January and nonfarm payrolls added 49,000 jobs. The number of unemployed fell to 10.1 million.
The mediocre job increase was a sign that economic progress is piecemeal, which brought a positive market reaction as the case for additional stimulus just got stronger.
All three indices ended the day in green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, or 92 points, to finish at 31,148. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both finished at new record closing highs.
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No more limits. Robinhood stripped away the temporary trading restrictions on its app, allowing users to access the popular Reddit stocks, GameStop (ticker: GME) and AMC Entertainment ( AMC). GME rose 19.2% on Friday, while AMC shed 3.7%.
Ford’s EV revolution. Ford ( F) shares advanced on Friday, ticking 1.2% higher. The company reported strong fourth-quarter 2020 earnings and most notably doubled down on its commitment to invest and grow its electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV) business, noting a $29 billion investment in the EV and AV spaces.
“The transformation of Ford is happening and so is our leadership of the EV revolution and development of autonomous driving,” said Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford, in the earnings release. The company plans to deliver EVs represented as Ford’s main products like pickups, commercial vans and SUVs. The stock ended the day up at about $11. F is up about 31% so far in 2021.
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Stocks Rise on Weak Jobs Report, Ford Takes on EVs originally appeared on usnews.com
