Dow Jones, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq price forecast after solid U.S. job report

Wall Street’s main indexes ended higher on Friday, but the war between Ukraine and Russia continues to keep investors in a negative mood.

Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of Kyiv and a besieged city in northern Ukraine a day after promising to scale down operations.

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Russian policymakers said that there’s still much to do to reach a breakthrough, and they are threatening to halt contracts supplying Europe with a third of its gas unless they are paid in roubles.

For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.06%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.12%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.65%.

The U.S. released the Nonfarm Payrolls report on Friday, which showed that the country added 431K jobs in March.

The job report missed economists’ estimate of 490K for March, but it is important to say that private payrolls rose by 426K. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 3.6% in March, which is the lowest level since February 2020.

Stifel’s Chief Economist, Lindsey Piegza said that the March job report fuels the U.S. Federal Reserve’s view of a solid labor market and justifies a more aggressive pathway to higher rates. Lindsey Piegza added:

With a solid jobs report and the Fed’s preferred inflation metric pushing to 6.4% as of March, there is little reason why the market should not expect a 50 basis point hike at the next May FOMC meeting.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned that interest rates could rise quicker than previously expected and raised the possibility of a 50-basis-point hike in rates in May.

On the other side, supply chain issues continue to be the biggest problem for many companies, and data on Friday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly slowed in March.

S&P 500 up 0.06% on a weekly basis

For the week, S&P 500 (SPX) booked a 0.06% increase and closed at 4,545 points.

The risk of another decline still persists, but if the price jumps above 4,600 points, it could reach 4,700 points very soon.

4,400 points represent the current support level, and if the price falls below it, it would be a “sell” signal, and we have the open way to 4,200 points.

DJIA down -0.12% on a weekly basis

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) weakened by -0.12% for the week and closed at 34,818 points.

The current support level stands at 34,000 points, and if the price falls below this level, the next target could be 33,500 points.

Nasdaq Composite up 0.65% on a weekly basis

For the week, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) booked a 0.65% increase and closed at 14,261 points.

The upside potential for Nasdaq Composite remains limited, and if the price falls again below 14,000 points, it would be a strong “sell” signal.

Summary

The U.S. released the Nonfarm Payrolls report on Friday, which showed that the country added 431K jobs in March. Wall Street’s three main indexes ended higher on Friday, but the risk of another decline is not over as the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war continues to worry investors.

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