United States benchmark averages closed at new highs on Friday (Saturday AEDT) despite payrolls data showing fewer jobs than expected were added in December.
The S&P 500 closed 0.7% higher at a record 6,966.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% to 49,504.07, also a new high, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 23,671.35.
The S&P 500 was up 1.1% across the week, with the Dow rising 2.1% and the Nasdaq increasing 0.8%.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, falling from the downwardly revised 56,000 in November. This was below Dow Jones forecasts of 73,000.
Payroll increases averaged 49,000 per month across 2025, down from 168,000 in 2024. October’s jobs losses amid the 43-day government shutdown were also revised up to 173,000.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.4% from the revised 4.5% in November.
“We continue to see an environment where companies are slow to hire and slow to fire. The overarching takeaway in today’s report is that there is more good news than bad in the first on-time jobs report in three months,” wrote B. Riley Wealth chief market strategist Art Hogan.
Mortgage lender stocks climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump said “representatives” would buy US$200 billion in mortgage bonds, with the Federal Housing Finance Agency later clarifying this would be Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rocket Companies rose 9.7% and UWM Holdings was up 13.8%.
The S&P 500’s tech index increased 1%, with Alphabet shares rising 1% to an all-time high. It became the world’s second-most valuable company last week as its market capitalisation passed Apple’s.
Two-year bond yields were up 0.04% to 3.536%, while 10-year yields were flat at 4.175%.
