Stocks fell at the end the week after the Labor Department said U.S. employers added just 38,000 new jobs last month. That is the worst month of job growth in five years. Following that data, the S&P 500 lost 0.29%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.18%. The Nasdaq Composite finished lower by 0.58%.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, attacked Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on Twitter following the jobs report.
If there is a silver lining to the labor data, it is that it could give the Federal Reserve pause about raising interest rates this month or in July.
Even with the slack jobs data, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS), Talen Energy Corp (NYSE:TLN) and Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) found ways to deliver impressive gains today.
Gap Inc (GPS)
Shares of apparel retailer Gap gained 4.2% on slightly above average volume after the company said same-store sales for the four weeks ending May 28 fell 6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expected GPS to report a same-store sales drop of 8%.
Deutsche Bank raised its price target on shares of GPS from $16 to $17, but that is still below where GPS stock closed Friday.
Talen Energy Corp (TLN)
Shares of Talen Energy surged 17.2% on more than 10 times the average daily volume after Riverstone Holdings said it would acquire TLN. Riverstone is a private energy investor. The firm will pay $14 per share for TLN, a 17.3% premium to where TLN shares closed yesterday.
Riverstone owned 35% of TLN as of the end of the first quarter. TLN has just over a month to seek a better offer.
Vale SA (ADR) (VALE)
Brazilian iron ore giant VALE jumped nearly 11.1% in U.S. trading on above-average turnover following news that Brazilian miner Samarco, a joint venture of which VALE is a part of, is looking to reduce 40% of its 3,000 employees.
Samarco closed a mine following a dam spill in November and has yet to reopen, according to Reuters.
Separately, there is speculation VALE Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira could be sent packing as a new political regime in Brazil aims to reduce corruption.
As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
