US stocks hit record highs as employment growth slows

Markets rose on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to a new high, its fourth consecutive record. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 percent to hit a 26-year high while the STOXX Europe 600 also rose 0.9 percent.

The US employment report on Friday showed that 148,000 jobs were created in December, below expectations and the slowest pace in three months.

Nevertheless, Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, said that the report showed “a market-friendly number, in that it is good but not overheated” and that the Federal Reserve will “not get overly aggressive in raising rates in 2018”.