What’s the deal?: US stocks keep rolling higher

Highlights in economic news include Friday’s awaited US jobs report showed economy added 175,000 jobs in February.

NEW YORK: US stocks pushed higher again this week following a somewhat better set of economic data that helped offset rising tensions over Ukraine. The gains were not the year’s most robust for a single week, but markets still finished in the black despite the occasional hick-up over Ukraine, where Russian forces have effectively taken control of Crimea, alarming the West. “There’s still a pretty decent upbeat feeling,” said Brent Schutte, a market strategist at BMO Global Asset Management. The S&P 500 managed to close at record highs for three of the five days, finishing up 18.59 points (1.00%) to 1,878.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 131.01 (0.80 percent) at 16,452.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tacked on 28.10 (0.65%) to 4,336.22. Highlights in economic news included Friday’s eagerly awaited US jobs report, which showed the economy added 175,000 jobs in February, a big improvement after the December and January reports disappointed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2015.

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