Stock Market News: Job growth strong, Apple shares jump, bank stocks volatile
Job growth for April came in stronger-than-expected, regional bank stocks are wrapping a volatile and losing week and in earnings Apple pleased investors who are also sifting through AMC, Lyft and Carvana results. Gold also nears fresh milestone. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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A waiter walks among diners at Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Despite mounting layoffs, U.S. employers added more jobs than expected last month pushing the unemployment rate even lower.
Employers added 253,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, easily beating the 180,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists.
The unemployment rate ticked lower to 3.4%, a historically low level, as more workers left the labor force. Job gains were broad-based last month, with the biggest gains in professional and business services (43,000), health care (40,000) and leisure and hospitality (31,000).
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| XLE | $80.41 | 2.30 | 2.94 |
| XLF | $32.32 | 0.77 | 2.44 |
| XLK | $151.43 | 3.89 | 2.64 |
A broad rally lifted stocks on Friday with all 11 of the S&P 500's top sectors gaining led by energy, tech and financials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 546 points fueled by Apple shares after the tech giant reported $117 billion in quarterly sales.
In commodities oil fell 7% for the week to $71.34 per barrel while gold rose 1.4% to $2017.40 pushing the yellow metal closer to a record.
Despite the rally all three of the major averages lost ground in what was a volatile week tied to the banking crisis.
Weekly Performance:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -1.3%
Nasdaq Composite: -0.07%
S&P 500: -0.8%
FTX logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX received U.S. bankruptcy court permission on Thursday to sell its LedgerX business for $50 million, raising additional funds to repay creditors.
At a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey signed off on FTX's sale of LedgerX, its non-bankrupt crypto derivatives trading platform, to an affiliate of Miami International Holdings.
Miami International Holdings owns the Bermuda Stock Exchange and several U.S.-registered securities exchanges, including the Miami International Securities Exchange.
FTX is attempting to repay an estimated $11 billion to customers through a combination of asset sales and clawback actions. Since filing for bankruptcy in November, FTX has recovered more than $7.3 billion in cash and liquid crypto assets, the company reported in April.
A general view of Pacific Western Bank in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| PACW | $5.88 | 2.71 | 85.43 |
| WAL | $25.26 | 7.06 | 38.81 |
| ZION | $23.42 | 3.49 | 17.50 |
| CMA | $36.24 | 5.03 | 16.12 |
| KEY | $9.82 | 0.90 | 10.02 |
| FHN | $10.53 | 0.47 | 4.67 |
| TFC | $28.63 | 2.42 | 9.23 |
Shares of U.S. regional lenders rebounded on Friday after the collapse of First Republic Bank and the struggles of PacWest Bancorp exacerbated investor worries about midsized banks, leading to a deep sell-off.
PacWest Bancorp, which is exploring strategic options, including a potential sale or capital raising, rose 54%, while Western Alliance and Zion Bancorp gained 31% and 15%, respectively.
Comerica Inc rose 12%, Keycorp was up 7%, First Horizon Corp added 4%, and Truist Financial Corp grew 6%.
The KBW Regional Banking Index, which has plunged about 31% this year, was 3.8% higher."It's more of relief rally just after the dramatic sell-off," said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans.
The AIG logo is seen at its building in New York's financial district March 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid//File Photo
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIG | $54.00 | 4.12 | 8.26 |
| CRBG | $16.43 | 1.04 | 6.79 |
American International Group Inc said on Friday it had delayed a secondary share sale in its life insurance and retirement business unit due to heightened market volatility fueled by the banking crisis.
The U.S. insurer seeks to gradually reduce its stake in its Corebridge Financial Inc unit and had planned the share sale in the first quarter.
Corebridge, which listed on the stock market in September last year after a multi-year effort by AIG to separate the business, has seen its shares drop by more than 20% since going public.
"We remain committed to reducing our ownership interest in Corebridge and will explore other options that are aligned with the best interest of shareholders," CEO Peter Zaffino told analysts on an earnings call.
The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued its largest ever award of nearly $279 million to a whistleblower whose information helped the regulator's enforcement action, it said on Friday.
The regulator did not disclose the case concerned in its statement. The award is more than double the $114 million that it had issued in October 2020.
"As this award shows, there is a significant incentive for whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations," said Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, in a statement.
Payments to whistleblowers are made out of an investor protection fund that was established by Congress and financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. Awards to whistleblowers can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
An AMC theatre is pictured amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMC | $5.99 | 0.07 | 1.18 |
| APE | $1.59 | 0.04 | 2.24 |
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue on Friday, as a string of hit films including the latest installment of Marvel's "Ant-Man" drove more moviegoers to theaters.
Shares of the Leawood, Kansas-based company, which operates over 900 theaters globally, rose nearly 4% in trading before the bell. The stock, which is a favorite of retail investors, has risen more than 45% so far this year.
The company in its earnings report also signaled a boost to its current quarter from the release of the much-awaited "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and said it expected "The Little Mermaid", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" to be a box-office driver for the remainder of the year.
"The first quarter North American box office easily surpassed 2022 by some 29%, totaling more than $1.7 billion," CEO Adam Aron said, adding that the European market showed strong recovery to reach pre-pandemic levels, compared with the United States.
Apple and Robinhood are among the non-banks paying savers to save as high yielding savings accounts become more mainstream, including with non-banks thanks in part to the Federal Reserve.
Chipotle and Yum's Taco Bell are among the restaurants helping customers celebrate the Mexican holiday.
Apple, the world's most valuable company, reported a better-than-expected quarter, thanks in part to strong iPhone sales.
Carvana logo is seen in this illustration taken June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVNA | $7.20 | 0.13 | 1.84 |
Shares of Carvana Co rose 33% before the bell on Friday after the online used-car retailer forecast a surprise core profit for the second quarter, offering some relief to investors amid solvency concerns around the company.
Carvana shares plunged 98% last year after the company struggled to offload used cars purchased at higher prices during the pandemic as demand fell on affordability concerns.
The stock is heavily shorted, with short interest hovering around 51.2% of the float, according to Refinitiv data.
Carvana said its adjusted EBITDA were expected to be positive in the second quarter, a step Chief Executive Officer Ernest Garcia had touted before as the first in turning the business around.
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