Wall Street scaled new highs on Friday, with the S&P closing up for a seventh straight day, after jobs data for June showed robust …
Wall Street scaled new highs on Friday, with the S&P closing up for a seventh straight day, after jobs data for June showed robust hiring yet persistent weakness in the labor market that will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates any time soon. The three major U.S. indices – the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq – closed at record highs. The streak was the longest run of consecutive record closes since June 1997, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Labor Department’s employment report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 850,000 jobs last month, but the total is 6.8 million below its peak in February 2020. The better-than-expected data was a tentative sign that a labor shortage overhanging the U.S. economy was starting to ease but was not enough to force the Fed to raise rates. Big tech led stocks on Wall Street higher while the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slid to 1.431%. “For capital markets, equities and bonds, this was a goldilocks report,” said Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management. “There were enough jobs that you’d want to see, but not so much that it concerns people that the Fed may have to act sooner.” Investors have feared a stronger-than-expected recovery and the prospect of surging inflation that could force the Fed to pare its support and raise rates, hurting technology shares whose growth and cash flow is farther in the future.
