More Americans are finding work. And Wall Street is loving it.
The Dow surged nearly 200 points Wednesday after payroll processor ADP issued a strong jobs report about the private sector. That’s raising hopes that the official government figures that will come out Friday morning will also show healthy job gains.
ADP said that 263,000 jobs were added in March, well ahead of forecasts for about 175,000.
Both ADP and the government reported solid jobs gains for February. So investors appear to be banking that the momentum in the labor market will continue.
The market appears to be back on solid footing after a recent dip following President Trump’s failure to push forward on a deal to repeal and replace Obamacare.
But investors have expressed hope that Trump will be able to get a tax reform plan approved and possibly a big economic stimulus plan aimed at rebuilding road, bridges and other infrastructure.
Bank stocks rallied as well, one day after Trump reiterated plans to try to undo parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also said in his annual shareholder letter Tuesday that regulations are holding the economy back.
A rebound in oil prices is helping the market too. Crude prices have shot back up to just under $52 a barrel, thanks in part to hopes that OPEC production cuts will relieve some of the supply glut on the market.
Oil services firms Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Transocean were among the bigger gainers in the S&P 500 Wednesday, while oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron helped lift the Dow.
All 30 Dow stocks were in positive territory as of late morning — and 448 companies in the S&P 500 were trading higher.
The recent stock rally has helped push tech stocks like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft to all-time highs. The Nasdaq, which is home to these three as well as Facebook and Google parent Alphabet, again hit a new record Wednesday.
The Nasdaq is now up 10% and is approaching the 6,000 milestone.
And CNNMoney’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven indicators of market sentiment, has bounced back from the Fear levels that it hit just a week ago.
It’s now in Neutral mode and has inched closer to Greed. A great jobs number Friday might push the index back to Greed — and lift stocks even higher.