U.S. Stocks Flat after Solid October Jobs Report
Wall Street stocks treaded water early Friday after a solid October jobs report and strong earnings from Apple that boosted shares of the tech giant.
The U.S. economy added 261,000 new jobs last month as businesses reopened in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The headline jobs figure was solid, and the prior two months were revised upward.
The jobless rate fell to 4.1 percent, down a tenth of a point from September, the lowest the US economy has seen since December 2000.
Apple, meanwhile, rose 1.8 percent after reporting that quarterly net profits rose 19 percent from a year ago to $10.7 billion on the back of strong iPhone sales. The report came as Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone X, hit the stores
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 23,491.44, down 0.1 percent and pulling back from Thursday's record close.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 2,578.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1 percent to 6,720.42.
But US stocks remain near record levels after a run of solid economic data and earnings and in anticipation that President Donald Trump will win a major tax cut.
Congressional Republicans on Thursday released their long-awaited tax reform proposal, a move is expected to launch a months'-long debate on the matter.
Source: Agence France Presse
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