ETFs Rise on Employment, Presidential Debate

October 3, 2012

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Stocks and ETFs rose slightly today after positive economic reports and in anticipation of tonight’s Presidential debate

Stocks and ETFs rose slightly toady after the ADP unemployment report indicated an increase of 126,000 jobs added to the private sector in September, while today’s ISM Non-Manufacturing Index Report also indicated improvement. Read more about today’s economic reports here.

Major index ETFs rose slightly, with the S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) rising roughly half a percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA:DIA) rising a little more than one tenth of a percent. The NASDAQ ETF (NYSEARCA:QQQ) added .44%, while the Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) was today’s only loser with a three tenths of a percent decrease.

One would think that today’s positive economic reports would have a greater impact on stocks and ETFs, even with mixed news from Europe and Japan and tonight’s Presidential debate. As we all know, politics and economics go hand in hand, and perhaps investors are awaiting the outcome of at least the first debate held tonight, if not the outcome of the entire election. All in all, it appears investors are still waiting for a line to be drawn in the sand and a direction to go from here. Who draws that line (Bernanke, Draghi, or a President) is anyone’s guess at this point now.

Bottom Line: Tonight is a big night for our country as our Presidential candidates square off in their first debate of the election season. In the investing world, today’s positive economic reports did not phase stocks too much, so perhaps investors are awaiting a bigger push.

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