Monday, August 8, 2016

Good News for the Financials

One outcome from Friday's strong jobs report: The 1.9 percent gain in the financial sector on Friday, making it the best performing sector for the day. The S&P 500 as a whole climbed 0.9 percent.

The sector tends to outperform after strong jobs reports, rising an average of 0.6 percent after positive surprises over the last two years, according to Bespoke Investment Group. It’s now up 0.5 percent for the year, marking the first time in 2016 that all 10 S&P 500 sectors are in positive territory.

At the same time, the rally highlights divisions between the firms in the category, which may be an ominous sign for the sector later in the year. S&P Dow Jones Indices plans to split real-estate investment trusts from the financial sector in September, creating a new 11th sector for those 28 stocks. Without REITs, which make up about 20 percent of the sector, financials would still be down on the year, according S&P.

No comments:

Post a Comment