Major US stock indexes finished trading in the plus zone

Major US stock indices rose slightly on Friday after October job data, which caused fears of wage growth, while the jump in Apple shares supported the high-tech Nasdaq.

As the report of the Ministry of Labor showed, the US economy added 261,000 jobs in October, as the employment situation continues to improve after the hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Economists predicted an increase in the number of employees by 310 thousand. The report also showed that the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% and approached the 17-year minimum, but the decrease was partly due to a sharp decrease in the workforce by 765 thousand people . At the same time, the average hourly salary remained almost unchanged - $ 26.53 (- $ 0.01 m / m or 0%) - in October. Economists had expected that the unemployment rate would remain at 4.2%, while the average hourly wage would increase by 0.2% in October.

Meanwhile, in September the trade deficit in the US increased slightly, while it was slightly more than economists had forecast. The deficit increased, as imports grew slightly faster than exports. The US Commerce Department reported that the trade balance deficit in the country increased in September to $ 43.5 billion, compared with $ 42.8 billion in the previous month. Economists had expected expansion, although the latter figure was slightly higher than economists expected - $ 43.2 billion.

In addition, the index of business activity in the US services, calculated by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), rose in October to 60.1 points compared to 59.8 points in September. The latter value was the highest since August 2005. Analysts predicted that the index will deteriorate to 58.5 points. Recall, the indicator is the result of a survey of about 400 firms from 60 sectors across the US. A value greater than 50 is usually considered an indicator of the growth of production activity.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in positive territory (18 out of 30). The leader of growth was the shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL, + 2.59%). Outsider were shares of Intel Corporation (INTC, -1.53%).

Most sectors of the S & P index recorded an increase. The conglomerate sector grew most (+ 1.9%). The largest decrease was shown in the financial sector (-0.4%).

At closing:

DJIA +22.93 23539.19 + 0.10%

S & P 500 +7.05 2586.90 + 0.27%

NASDAQ +49.49 6764.43 + 0.74%