Two news facts drove the markets higher today. First, the U.S. jobs report showed that the economy added 228,000 jobs last month, beating expectations of 198,000. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%. The other market-moving news today was out of Europe. The U.K. and the European Union agreed on three key issues which had been slowing down Brexit negotiations. This news sent the Dow 30 higher by 118, the S&P 500 up 14, and the Nasdaq 100 higher by 27. Washington also agreed on a continuing resolution bill that would fund the government for another two weeks. As of now, the government is set to run out of money on December 22nd.
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) made headlines today as court documents showed that the company admitted that one of its heavy machinery units cheated railcar customers by performing unnecessary repairs and dumped brake shoes and other evidence into the ocean. The unit agreed to pay a $5 million criminal fine and $20 million in restitution. This had little impact on shares, though, as they were still higher by 0.68%. For the year, the stock is still higher by over 55%.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) continued its push higher today (+0.19%) as the media focused on the "Amazon Effect" still dominating the consumer market. United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI), a food distributor whose largest customer is Amazon's Whole Foods, said it is "continuing to see record sales and shipping unit volume." The company said that they have had to spend another $25 million just to keep up with current demand. Shares of United Natural Foods were higher by 2.05% on the news.
Western Digital (NYSE: WDC), the data storage company saw shares recover 3.98% when Reuters reported that them and Toshiba are "aiming to settle their chip dispute, with a potential agreement coming as soon as next week." Shares have struggled recently, selling off around 17% since hitting a high before Thanksgiving.