By Canadian Press

US stocks jump following strong January jobs report

Feb 3, 2017 | 10:15 AM

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are climbing Friday morning after the government said employers stepped up their hiring last month, another positive sign for the U.S. economy. That’s helping small-company stocks, which stand to benefit more than others from faster economic growth. Banks rose sharply after President Trump took a step toward scaling back financial industry regulations.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 171 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 20,055 as of 12:10 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 16 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,296. The Nasdaq composite rose 22 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,657.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed 17 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 1,374. Smaller, domestically-focused companies may have more to gain than their larger peers from faster growth in the U.S. The Russell made large gains at the end of 2016 based on those hopes.

US JOBS: U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs in January, according to the Labor Department. That’s more than last year’s average monthly gain of 187,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to a low 4.8 per cent from 4.7 per cent in December as more people started looking for work.

REGULATION ROLLBACK: Financial firms rose after President Donald Trump took his first steps aimed at scaling back regulations on the industry. He signed an order that directs the Treasury Secretary to look for potential changes to the Dodd-Frank law, which reshaped financial regulations after the 2008-09 financial crisis and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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The order doesn’t have any immediate impact, but suggests Trump is intent on reducing regulations, which could boost profits for financial companies and banks.

Dow components JPMorgan Chase added $2.41, or 2.8 per cent, to $87 and Goldman Sachs rose $9.78, or 4.2 per cent, to $240.19. Morgan Stanley gained $1.91, or 4.5 per cent, to $44.04 and Invesco rose $1.19, or 4 per cent, to $30.74. Smaller banks, which could find it easier to lend money if regulations are cut, also traded higher.

CARD SWIPED: Visa said shoppers stepped up their use of debit and credit cards in the fourth quarter, and the payment processing company also benefited from its acquisition of Visa Europe. Its profit and revenue were stronger than analysts expected, and Visa’s stock jumped $4.09, or 5 per cent, to $86.40.

AMAZON DOESN’T AMAZE: Online retail giant Amazon traded lower as investors grew concerned about its sales. The company’s fourth-quarter sales fell short of analyst estimates, and so did its forecast for revenue in the current quarter. The stock gave up $27.30, or 3.3 per cent, to $812.65.

MACY’S SALE? Macy’s stock soared after the Wall Street Journal reported that Hudson’s Bay Co., the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, could buy the department store chain. The companies declined to comment.

Macy’s jumped $2.69, or 8.8 per cent, to $33.41. The stock has been trading around five-year lows. Hudson’s Bay stock rose 4 per cent in Toronto.

AMGEN ADVANCES: Biotech drugmaker Amgen disclosed a bigger profit and better sales than analysts had expected. It also reported results from a study that showed its cholesterol drug Repatha reduced risk of death, heart attack and stroke in patients with advanced atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. That could help boost prescriptions for Repatha, which was approved in August. Amgen $6.71, or 4.2 per cent, to $166.29.

SAFETY CHECK: Network security company Fortinet reported a bigger profit and greater revenue than analysts expected and its stock climbed $4.44, or 13.4 per cent, to $37.62 Competitor FireEye slumped $2.06, or 15.8 per cent, to $10.92. That company disclosed a smaller profit and less revenue than expected, and it forecast weaker-than-expected sales for the current quarter.

UGG-LY TURN: Deckers Outdoor, the maker of Ugg footwear, announced weak quarterly profit and sales. The company said it expects to earn around $3.50 a share in the current fiscal year, far short of the analyst estimate of $4.08 a share. The stock tumbled $9.49, or 17.1 per cent, to $46.05.

NO-GO FOR GOPRO: Action camera maker GoPro slumped after another weak sales report. The company’s fourth-quarter total of $541 million in revenue fell about $35 million below analyst estimates and its first-quarter projection was even worse, as it called for around $200 million in sales in the first quarter. That was $68 million below estimates. The stock sank $1.38, or 12.6 per cent, to $9.59.

BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.44 per cent from 2.48 per cent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 42 cents to $53.96 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 48 cents to $57.04 a barrel in London.

CURRENCY: The dollar dipped to 112.40 yen from 112.70 yen. The euro edged up to $1.0789 from $1.0764.

OVERSEAS: France’s CAC 40 jumped 0.8 per cent. The British FTSE 100 rose 0.7 per cent while Germany’s DAX added 0.2 per cent. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo finish almost unchanged and Seoul’s Kospi added 0.1 per cent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.2 per cent.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay

Marley Jay, The Associated Press