S&P And Nasdaq Extend Their Winning Streak To 3 Weeks In A Row  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed mixed on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P in the green, while the Nasdaq was in the red. For the week, the Dow was down, ending their winning streak at 2 weeks in a row. The S&P and the Nasdaq, however, were up, extending their winning streak to 3 weeks in a row. The big news on Friday was the Employment Situation Report which showed 431,000 new jobs were created in March (426K in the private sector and 5K in the public), vs. the consensus for 490,000 (458K private and 32K public). The unemployment rate declined to 3.6% vs. last month's report of 3.8% and views for 3.7%. The participation rate increased to 62.4% vs. last month's 62.3%. Even though the 426K private payrolls was under the estimated 458K, the robust showing once again underscored the strength of the economy and the continuing tightness in the labor market. The biggest job gains came from the following industries: Leisure and Hospitality gained 112,000 new jobs, Professional and Business Services added 102,000 jobs, Retail Trade increased by 49,000, Manufacturing added 38,000, Social Assistance jobs were up by 25,000, Construction was up by 19,000, Financial Activities gained 16,000, and Health Care added 8,000 new jobs. Additionally, January's job gains were revised higher by an extra 23,000 to 504,000; and February's better than expected job tally was revised up by another 72,000 jobs to 750,000. In other news, the PMI Manufacturing Report came in at 58.8, beating the consensus for 58.5. The ISM Manufacturing Index, however, missed at 57.1 vs. views for 59.0. And Construction Spending showed a 0.5% m/m increase. On a y/y basis it's up 11.2%, well above last month's pace of 8.2%. Over the last 3 weeks, stocks have soared from their correction lows with the Dow gaining 6.70%, the S&P up 9.00%, and the Nasdaq up 13.4%. YTD, the Dow is only down -4.18%, the S&P -4.62%, and the Nasdaq -8.84%. With the new quarter upon us, and with earnings season ready to get started, stocks are well positioned to see more upside, especially since stocks typically go up during earnings season. The official start to earnings season isn't until April 20th, when Alcoa reports after the close. But unofficially it has already begun with 177 companies set to report this week. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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