Dow Index Trades Above 20,000 as Bank Stocks Rally

New York (Feb 3)  The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above the 20,000 level again on Friday as a potential repeal of banking regulations gave the financial sector a boost.

The Dow added 0.7% to trade at 20,025. The S&P 500 was up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.3%.

Reports circulated on Friday that the Trump administration would sign an executive order to roll back some of the regulations put in place after the global financial crisis in 2008. Donald Trump will reportedly sign an executive action to roll back Dodd-Frank financial regulations put in place to ensure big banks could weather a shock to the global economy.

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Dow components Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM) were sharply higher. Wells Fargo (WFC) , Bank of America (BAC) , and Citigroup (C) climbed, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) rose 1.4%.

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The U.S. economy added far more jobs in January than anticipated, a sign the labor market has not yet reached full employment. The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in January, according to the Labor Department. Analysts anticipated 175,000 jobs to have been added last month. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.8% from 4.7%. Average hourly earnings rose just 0.1%, a third of the growth expected. December's jobs number was increased to 157,000 from 156,000, while November was reduced to 164,000 from 204,000.

Source: TheStreet