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US stocks halt 3 week losing streak

US stocks halt 3 week losing streak The closely-watched monthly jobs report released Friday turned out to be a Big Bang for the market, sending US stocks much higher on the Day and the Week. On the Day: The DJIA rose 127.83 pts, or 1.24%, to close10,447.93, the S&P 500 gained 14. 41 pts, or 1.32%, to close at 1,104.54 and the NAS tallied 33. 74 pts, or 1.53%, to close the session at 2,233.75. On the Week: the DJIA gained about 3%, and the S&P and NAS jumping more than 3.5%. And it is the 1st weekly gain in the equity market in a month. Major indexes moved down in the past 3 weeks. Mounting concerns about the health of the economic recovery pressured all three major indexes sharply lower last month, posting first down August in 5 yrs and the worst August since Y 2001. Strong manufacturing data from United States and China as well as upbeat housing and retail sale data boosted the market sentiment. Wall Street has staged a strong rally in the past three sessions. But Friday's non-farm payroll report from the Labor Department has been the most watched economic report for the week, and the much-better-than-expected further fueled the rally. According to the report, US economy lost 54,000 jobs in August, way better than the 110,000 losses economists had expected. Even more encouraging was that private sector added a total of 67,000 new jobs last month, given that figures of previous 2 months have been upwardly revised. Meanwhile, the unemployment rose to 9.6% from July's 9.5%, in line with market expectation, showing the economic recovery was still fragile. The upbeat jobs report sent the dollar falling; and the Japanese Yen, often seen as a safer investment, also lost some steam against the USD. In late Friday trading, the Euro rose to US$1.2882 from US$1. 2812 late Thursday, and the GBP gained to US$1. 5449 from US$1.5389. In other trading, the USD rose to 84.43 Japanese Yen from 84. 23 Yen, edged higher to 1.0186 Swiss Francs from 1.0146 Francs but dipped lower to 1.0394 Canadian $'s from 1.0544 Canadian $'s on late Thursday. A separate report indicated the US services sector grew at a slower pace in August. The Institute for Supply Management said its service-sector index fell to 51.5 last month from 54.3 in July, while economists had expected a higher reading of 53.5. Crude Oil prices dipped as the disappointing service sector report and fading Hurricane Earl offset the better-than-expected jobs data. Light, Sweet Crude for October delivery fell 42c to settle at US$74.60 bbl in New York. Brent crude fell 26c to settle US$76.67 bbl in London. US Major Market Indexes Technical Analysis Date Symbol Price Technical Analysis Support Resistance Sept-03-2010 QQQQ 46.01 Neutral (0.02) 45.25 46.65 Sept-03-2010 DIA 104.58 Neutral (0.16) 104.42 105.71 Sept-03-2010 SPY 110.89 Neutral (0.11) 110.74 111.30