NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Friday as strong monthly payrolls data bolstered confidence in a labour market recovery, but stopped short of sparking fears about sooner-than-expected tapering by the Federal Reserve.
“For capital markets, equities and bonds, this was a goldilocks report. It was strong enough but not too strong which is exactly what they wanted to see,” said Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management in New York.
After a strong start to the year, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq began the second half at record levels, with technology , communication services and consumer discretionary sectors among the top boosts on Friday.
Focus now also shifts towards the second-quarter earnings season and progress on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill that could help the equity market keep the momentum.
Investors will look to minutes from the Fed’s June policy meeting next week which will offer more details on the policymakers’ thinking on inflation, bond tapering and interest rates.
Trading volumes were expected to be light heading into the long weekend, with markets shut on Monday, July 5 in observance of Independence Day.
At 11:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 60.07 points, or 0.17%, at 34,693.60, the S&P 500 was up 15.77 points, or 0.37%, at 4,335.74, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 59.99 points, or 0.41%, at 14,582.37.
Tesla Inc rose 0.6% after it posted record vehicle deliveries for the second quarter that also beat Wall Street estimates.
Virgin Galactic Holdings jumped 6.7% after the space tourism firm said billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson would travel to the edge of space on the company’s test flight on July 11, beating out fellow aspiring billionaire astronaut Jeff Bezos.
Didi Global Inc slipped 6.3% after China’s cyberspace administration said it would conduct a new investigation into the Chinese ride-hailing giant to protect national security and the public interest.
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