NEW YORK — A wire service reports that shares of ground and air shipping and transportation stocks climbed higher on Friday, as investors weighed a strong jobs report and other economic indicators as a possible sign the sector could gain strength.
The Dow Jones Transportation Index, which measures the share price movement of 20 trucking, airline, shipping, and railroad companies, closed more than 102 points higher, up about 3.8 percent, at 2,830.20 on Friday.
“It’s just a culmination of things that have sparked the money flowing back into the sector,” said Jason Seidl, a transportation analyst at ABN Amro Inc.
“I think it’s investors looking for the economic turnaround, and investors breathing a sigh of relief about the economic data that was out this morning,” he said.
The pace of job losses slowed during December compared with earlier months following the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. government data released on Friday showed.
While the nation’s jobless rate still rose to its highest level since April 1995, investors weighed the news as a signal that the worst of the recession may be over.
Gains in transportation and shipping shares generally run ahead of any economic recovery by a span of about six months, Seidl estimated, as manufacturers slowly step up production — and increase the need for the transportation of goods.
Shares of overnight transport specialist FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX – news) gained $1.80, or nearly 3.5 percent, to $54.08 on Friday, after posting a 52-week high of $55.11.
FedEx could likely be the company to lead gains in the transportation sector, because it runs both air, ground package and freight delivery services, Seidl said.
Railroad firms, which have struggled to offset lower demand for most shipping with an increased need for coal transport, also posted modest gains on Friday.
The Standard & Poor’s Railroads Index gained 3.78 points, an increase of 2.17 percent, to 177.62, to post a new 52-week high.
Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC – news), a component of the rail index, gained 3.82 percent, or 75 cents, to close at $20.36, while fellow component CSX Corp. (NYSE:CSX – news). rose $1.05, or 2.8 percent, to $38.50.
Trucking outfits also posted gains, led by a 7.8 percent increase in shares of Roadway Express Inc. (Nasdaq:ROAD – news), which closed at $39.84, and a gain of 6.6 percent in USFreightways Corp. (Nasdaq:USFC – news) shares to $35.26.
Shares of many trucking companies have run up in recent months, spurred by lower fuel prices, strength in driver availability, and gains in pricing this year as a result of consolidation.