S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs after strong jobs report in June

July 2 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Friday, as strong monthly payroll data boosted confidence in a labor market recovery, but did not raise fears of a cut faster than expected from the Federal Reserve.

The jobs report, closely watched by the Department of Labor, showed non-farm payrolls grew more than expected in June, with companies raising wages and providing incentives to attract millions of unemployed Americans. Read more

The unemployment rate rose to 5.9% last month from 5.8% in May.

“For capital markets, stocks and bonds, it was a golden loop report. It was strong enough but not too strong, which is exactly what they wanted to see,” he said. said Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management in New York. .

Markets have been the spearhead of inflation and economic data in recent sessions, with investors swinging between “value” and “growth” stocks fearing that a potentially stronger-than-expected economic recovery and soaring inflation could force the Federal Reserve to reduce its support.

After a good start to the year, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq entered the second half of the year at record levels, with the technology (.SPLRCT), communications services (.SPLRCL) and consumer discretionary (. SPLRCD) among the best Fridays.

“We suggest driving growth and value by exposing yourself to information technology for consumer discretionary and maintaining investment in financial and industrials stocks,” said John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management in New York.

Attention is now also shifting to the second quarter earnings season and the progress of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, which could help the stock market maintain momentum.

Investors will look at the minutes from the Fed’s June policy meeting next week, which will offer more details on policymakers’ thinking on inflation, reducing bonds and interest rates.

Trading volumes were expected to be low ahead of the long weekend, with markets closed on Monday July 5 on Independence Day.

At 11:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 60.07 points, or 0.17%, to 34,693.60, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 15.77 points, or 0.37%, to 4,335.74, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 59.99 points, or 0.41%, to 14,582.37.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) rose 0.6% after posting record second quarter vehicle deliveries, also beating Wall Street estimates. Read more

Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE.N) jumped 6.7% after the space tourism company said billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson would travel to the edge of space during the company’s test flight on 11 July, beating fellow billionaire aspiring astronaut Jeff Bezos. Read more

Didi Global Inc (DIDI.N) slipped 6.3% after China’s cyberspace administration said it would conduct a new investigation into the Chinese ridesharing giant to protect national security and the public interest. Read more

Investors are keeping an eye out for Robinhood Markets Inc’s highly anticipated market debut in the coming weeks after the brokerage said in a filing on Thursday that it was targeting a valuation of $ 40 billion on the IPO. Read more

Falling issues outnumbered advances by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P Index recorded 44 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 61 new highs and 35 new lows.

Reporting by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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