US stocks waver amid data, rate hike concerns

U.S. stocks fluctuated for the week, as Wall Street struggled for direction amid a batch of economic data and concerns about the timing of a next rate hike.

On Monday, U.S. stocks closed mixed as traders shifted their focus from corporate earnings to the timing of the Federal Reserve's next interest rate hike.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ticked down, following a broad decline in global stock markets, as investors assessed the country's consumption data and Japan's economic stimulus package.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks rallied as Wall Street cheered over a strong rebound in oil prices.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed after wavering in a tight range, as investors digested a rate cut decision by the Bank of England (BoE).

On Friday, U.S. stocks posted solid gains, with the S&P 500 refreshing its records and the Nasdaq setting its new records for the first time in 2016, boosted by the country's much-better-than-expected July jobs report.

On the economic front, U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was in focus, which came out much better than expected Friday.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 255,000 in July, well above economists' estimates of 180,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The robust July jobs report raised speculations that the U.S. central bank may start a next rate hike rather sooner than later.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said earlier this week that he did not rule out a rate increase at the central bank's next meeting in September.

On the other economic news, the July purchasing managers' index registered 52.6 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the June reading of 53.2 percent, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

U.S. personal consumption expenditures increased 53 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.4 percent, in June, and personal income increased 29.3 billion dollars, or 0.2 percent.

The U.S. non-manufacturing index registered 55.5 percent in July, 1 percentage point lower than the June reading of 56.5 percent.

In the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 269,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000.

The U.S. goods and services deficit was 44.5 billion U.S. dollars in June, up 3.6 billion dollars from 41 billion dollars in May, revised.

Overseas, the BoE cut its interest rate from 0.5 percent to a record low level of 0.25 percent on Thursday, as Britain pushes for a stimulus to expand its economy after a historic vote to leave the European Union.

The move is the first cut in seven years since the rate hit its previous record low level of 0.5 percent in March 2009.

"The monetary policy changes were announced in response to a significant cut in the Bank's economic forecast. Even with these policy changes, the 2017 GDP forecast was slashed from 2.3 percent to 0.8 percent," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

In Asia, the Japanese cabinet approved an economic stimulus package worth 28.1 trillion yen (274 billion U.S. dollars) on Tuesday to support Japan's sluggish economy in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, and the S&P 500 increased 0.4 percent, while the Nasdaq was up 1.1 percent.

Source : XINHUA