The stock market saw a positive start on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average opening 86 points higher, marking a 0.2% increase. The S&P 500 also showed a 0.2% rise, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. This upward trend is attributed to investor anticipation of a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.
Investors closely examined the latest jobs report, which revealed that the US economy added 227,000 jobs in November, surpassing expectations. Despite this positive job growth, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2%, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Market analysts believe that the Federal Reserve might still proceed with a quarter-point cut in its benchmark interest rate during the upcoming two-day policy meeting scheduled for December 17-18.
Although traders initially had a high level of confidence in a rate cut, with bets at 91%, this sentiment slightly wavered during the day, dropping to 87% according to the CME FedWatch tool. The slight increase in the unemployment rate did not deter market expectations of a rate cut, indicating a prevailing belief in the Federal Reserve's commitment to supporting economic growth.
