Financial Markets                      12/06 15:52

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks rose to records Friday after data suggested the 
job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong 
that it raises immediate worries about inflation.

   The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on 
Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one 
of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
dipped 123.19 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8% to set its 
own record.

   The quiet trading came after the latest jobs report came in mixed enough to 
strengthen traders' expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest 
rates again at its next meeting in two weeks. The report showed U.S. employers 
hired more workers than expected last month, but it also said the unemployment 
rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.

   "This print doesn't kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to 
deliver a cut in December," according to Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector 
investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

   The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since 
September to offer more help for the slowing job market, after bringing 
inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower interest rates can 
ease the brakes off the economy, but they can also offer more fuel for 
inflation.

   Expectations for a series of cuts from the Fed have been a major reason the 
S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times so far this year. And the Fed is part 
of a global surge: 62 central banks have lowered rates in the past three 
months, the most since 2020, according to Michael Hartnett and other 
strategists at Bank of America.

   Still, the jobs report may have included some notes of caution for Fed 
officials underneath the surface.

   Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment 
Institute, pointed to average wages for workers last month, which were a touch 
stronger than economists expected. While that's good news for workers who would 
always like to make more, it could keep upward pressure on inflation.

   "This report tells the Fed that they still need to be careful as sticky 
housing/shelter/wage data shows that it won't be easy to engineer meaningfully 
lower inflation from here in the nearer term," Wren said.

   So, while traders are betting on an 85% probability the Fed will ease its 
main rate in two weeks, they're much less certain about how many more cuts it 
will deliver next year, according to data from CME Group.

   For now, the hope is that the job market can help U.S. shoppers continue to 
spend and keep the U.S. economy out of a recession that had earlier seemed 
inevitable after the Fed began hiking interest rates swiftly to crush inflation.

   Several retailers offered encouragement after delivering 
better-than-expected results for the latest quarter.

   Ulta Beauty rallied 9% after topping expectations for both profit and 
revenue. The opening of new stores helped boost its revenue, and it raised the 
bottom end of its forecasted range for sales over this full year.

   Lululemon stretched 15.9% higher following its own profit report. It said 
stronger sales outside the United States helped it in particular, and its 
earnings topped analysts' expectations.

   Retailers overall have been offering mixed signals on how resilient U.S. 
shoppers can remain amid the slowing job market and still-high prices. Target 
gave a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season, for example, while 
Walmart gave a much more encouraging outlook.

   A report on Friday suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers may be improving 
more than economists expected. The preliminary reading from the University of 
Michigan's survey hit its highest level in seven months. The survey found a 
surge in buying for some products as consumers tried to get ahead of possible 
increases in price due to higher tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has 
threatened.

   In tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 10.6% for one of the S&P 500's 
larger gains after reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. Tech 
stocks were some of the market's strongest this week, as Salesforce and other 
big companies talked up how much of a boost they're getting from the 
artificial-intelligence boom.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 15.16 points to 6,090.27. The Dow dipped 123.19 
to 44,642.52, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 159.05 to 19,859.77.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.15% 
from 4.18% late Thursday.

   In stock markets abroad, France's CAC 40 rose 1.3% after French President 
Emmanuel Macron announced plans to stay in office until the end of his term and 
to name a new prime minister within days. Earlier this week, far-right and 
left-wing lawmakers approved a no-confidence motion due to budget disputes, 
forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet to resign.

   In Asia, stock indexes were mixed. They rallied 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1% in 
Shanghai ahead of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week.

   South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6% as South Korea's ruling party chief showed 
support for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol 
after he declared martial law and then revoked that earlier this week. Yoon is 
facing calls to resign and may be impeached.

   Bitcoin was sitting near $101,500 after briefly bursting above $103,000 to a 
record the day before.

   ___

   AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

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