NEW YORK: Wall Street trade was likely to remain in low gear next week as investors increasingly expect the government to pump cash into the markets to boost the lagging economy. The week was marked by apprehension ahead of Friday's key monthly unemployment report, but even after it showed the economy shed more jobs than expected in September, stocks remained stable to close the week with gains. “It is interesting that we're celebrating the fact that the Federal Reserve feels that the economic conditions warrant more monetary policy,” said Art Hogan, analyst at Jefferies. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.75 percent to 11,006.48 points, its highest level since early May. The broader S&P 500 index rose 1.65 percent to 1,165.15 points while the technology-rich Nasdaq composite index gained 31.16 points to finish the week at 2,401.91, a 1.3 percent gain.In its keenly awaited report, the Labor Department said the economy lost a higher-than-expected 95,000 non-farm jobs in September while the unemployment rate held unchanged at 9.6 percent from August. Government payrolls fell by a larger-than-expected 159,000, while private-sector payroll employment rose by 64,000, below expectations. Most analysts agree that the overall weak report left the Federal Reserve with little choice but to step in to prop up the economy after it said last month it was prepared to intervene, with the only question being when. “This past week's data ended with a thud. After the disappointing September employment report, we now expect the Federal Reserve to resume large-scale asset purchases in November rather than December,” said Aaron Smith of Moody's Economy.com. “Until confidence is restored, the recovery will likely remain stuck in neutral as businesses remain hesitant to hire and invest.” The Federal Reserve has bought about 1.5 trillion dollars in Treasury bonds and assets to boost a recovery from the worst recession in decades. Next week has a heavy economic calendar, led by the release on Monday of the minutes of the September 21 meeting of the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee, which could give further insight into policymakers' thinking on new stimulus measures. More data includes the US trade deficit on Wednesday and retail sales numbers on Thursday as well as a slew of quarterly earnings reports from big corporates including Intel, Google, JPMorgan Chase and General Electric. But the data was unlikely to heavily sway the market as traders remain cautious ahead of the anticipated government intervention. “Let's face it, money is going to get pushed into equities... I don't see anything that can derail the market,” said Mace Blicksilver of Marblehead Asset Management. – Agence France
