Stocks rose on Friday and the S&P 500 hit another record high after the June jobs report showed an accelerating recovery for the U.S. labor market.
.png)
The S&P 500 has now risen in five of the past six weeks, while the Nasdaq has gained in six of the past seven weeks.
· The broad market index rose 0.75% to 4,352.34.
· The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81% to notch its own record at 14,639.33.
· The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 152.82 points to close at 34,786.35.
The S&P 500 has now risen for seven consecutive sessions, its longest winning streak since August.
Solid moves by major tech stocks helped support the overall market on Friday, with shares of Apple and Salesforce rising by nearly 2% and 1.3%, respectively. Microsoft jumped 2.2%.
For the week, the Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 2%, while the S&P 500 and Dow climbed 1.7% and 1%, respectively. Several sectors closed at record levels on Friday, including tech and health care.
The strong week on Wall Street was spurred by a string of solid economic reports, capped by a better-than-expected jobs report on Friday morning.
The economy added 850,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting an addition of 706,000. The print topped the revised 583,000 jobs created in May.
Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, said that the report showed solid growth but wouldn’t change the Fed’s policy path, hitting a sweet spot for markets.
“I think it was one of these goldilocks-type of reports, because hiring accelerated -- which is a positive sign for the second half and the recovery -- but not so much that it would trigger a reaction of an accelerated timeline for the Federal Reserve to start tapering,” Kourkafas said.
In addition to the job gains, average hourly wages rose 0.3% for the month and are up 3.6% year over year, matching expectations.
Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said that the report eased concerns about a labor shortage.
Even with the recent strength for stocks, market strategists say that uncertainty about the future of the Fed’s asset purchases and the upcoming earnings season could keep stocks from making major gains in the near term.
· The U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the July 4 holiday.
· Traders are hopeful the IPO market can repeat its record first half
The floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which has been quiet in the past year, has suddenly come to life.
Traders have been returning, restrictions have been relaxed so more visitors can come on the floor, and the IPO business is booming.
Reference : CNBC
Thai
Eng