Stocks Rise After Upbeat Jobs Data

U.S. Market
Stocks were higher this morning after better-than-excepted jobs data.

The U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, well above expectations. December and November’s jobs data was also revised upwards. The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% as more people entered the workforce. Wages grew 2.2% from the previous month.

At midday the Dow was up 0.2% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were each up 0.4%.

Stocks on the Move
Verizon Communications (VZ) announced late Thursday that it will sell its wireless towers to American Tower (AMT) for $5.1 billion and its local fixed-line assets in California, Texas, and Florida to Frontier Communications (FTR) for $10.5 billion. Verizon will use the proceeds to fund a $5 billion share repurchase and repay debt. Shares of Verizon rose 2.6%, American Tower shares were down 2.4% and Frontier shares were down 0.5% on the news.

Twitter's (TWTR) fourth-quarter results benefited from continued growth in advertiser demand, although, user growth slowed. Monthly active users reached 288 million, growing approximately 20% versus 2013 and 1.4% sequentially. Shares soared 17% on the report.

LinkedIn (LNKD) shares were up 14% after the firm posted a strong fourth quarter, with revenue and operating income coming in above our expectations, driven by strong performance across all three segments (talent solutions, marketing solutions, and premium subscriptions). Quarterly revenue grew 44% versus 2013 to $643 million, as revenue per user reached a record $1.90 for the quarter (compared with $1.67 in 2013). This metric is particularly impressive when considering that total members grew 25% to 347 million.

Foreign Markets
European markets were lower today. In late trading, the FTSE 100, Paris CAC and Germany’s DAX were down 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.5% respectively.

Asian shares were mixed. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.9%, the Hang Seng was off 0.4% while the Nikkei 225 was up 0.8%.