Stocks reversed two weeks of soft declines Thursday, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that nearly 400,000 more jobs have been created than was previously thought. Despite a sharp drop in manufacturers' orders for durable goods, as a whole, the capital goods and transportation sectors outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Big winners and losers in each sector were largely determined by earnings announcements or guidance changes, as companies begin releasing quarterly results.
One of the day's biggest gainers was Eagle Materials
Also strong was recreational vehicle and bus manufacturer Thor Industries
Diversified industrial product manufacturer Actuant
A 13% month-on-month drop in durable goods was mostly due to a poor showing by transportation-related goods, but investors weren't surprised. Boeing
United Continental, on the other hand, was down nearly 4%, after announcing that it expected passenger revenue to fall 1% to 2% over the next quarter. Several other passenger airlines were down on the news, as well, indicating expectations of slower passenger travel. While this might indicate slowing demand for Boeing's planes, the company has a massive backlog of orders, which should keep its plants at full capacity for years.
A bigger worry for Boeing and other defense contractors was the Commerce Department's announcement Thursday that defense capital orders were down 40% in August. With big cuts in the defense budget set to take effect in the next president's term, contractors and agencies alike are preparing to slim down.
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