S&P 500 hits one other document excessive after a better-than-expected job report in June

Shares rose at the opening and the S&P 500 hit another record high after the June job report showed an accelerating recovery in the US labor market.

The broad market index rose 0.3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5% to hit its own intraday all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has barely changed.

The economy created 850,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 706,000. The pressure surpassed the 559,000 jobs created in May.

At 5.9%, the unemployment rate was higher than expected.

“This is a strong report and should be taken as a sign of an accelerating labor market,” Aberdeen Standard Investments’ deputy chief economist James McCann said in a statement.

“Today’s data will not change the Fed’s view. An acceleration in the labor market, as signaled in this report, is exactly what they expected,” added McCann. “The rise in hiring should show the central bank that companies are more successful in finding workers, which will allay concerns about a prolonged period of rising wages. What is going to happen now is that if the Fed … likely announces a curb on asset purchases, investors will really focus on it. “

Wages rose 0.3% for the month and 3.6% year-over-year, which is in line with expectations.

“Data over the past few months suggests that rising labor demand linked to recovery from the pandemic may have put wages under pressure,” his Bureau of Labor Statistics report said.

The market was bolstered in early trading by strong starts in semiconductor stocks and software names, including Salesforce. Tesla rose more than 3% after reporting a record for quarterly deliveries.

Despite the uncertainty creeping into the job report, stock markets have been strong for the past few days and continued to record highs on Thursday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% during Thursday’s regular session to hit its sixth record high in a row, finishing above 4,300 for the first time at 4,319.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131 points to close at 34,633.53 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.1% to 14,522.38.

These gains contributed to the already robust market returns in 2021.

The economic recovery, sparked by vaccine use and looser Covid-19 restrictions, helped the S&P 500 jump more than 14% in the first half of the year. The Dow and Nasdaq also saw double-digit percentage gains for the six months ended June 30.

For the week, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1% at Thursday’s close. The S&P 500 and the Dow gained 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively.

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