(Sharecast News) - US stocks rose strongly on Thursday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both notching new record highs ahead of the long weekend after key labour market data came in well ahead of forecasts.
Despite markets closing up shop early at 1300 ET, the S&P 500 finished 0.8% higher at 6,279.35, marking its seventh record close in 2025, while the Nasdaq gained 1% to its fourth all-time peak of the year at 20,601.10. Meanwhile the Dow gained 0.8% to finish at 44,828.53 - its highest since early February.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published its non-farm payrolls report a day earlier than usual Friday release due to the 4th of July national holiday celebrations.
The data revealed non-farm payrolls rose by 147,000 in June, following May's upwardly revised 144,00 print and well ahead of forecasts of 110,000. June's reading was also in line with the average monthly gain of 146,000 over the last 12 months and continued to point to a fundamentally resilient labour market. Also of note, the unemployment rate also fell, dropping by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1%, under the 4.3% that economists had predicted.
"Beneath the celebratory gloss of equity gains, there's a far more nuanced and tactical dance underway-because while stocks soared, the rate-cut runway just got a little frostier," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Innes said the strong data lessens the likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting rates at its next meeting in July. "It's clear the Fed now has both the data and the political cover to wait out the summer storm before thinking about easing," he said.
Elsewhere on the macro front, jobless claims fell by 4,000 in the week ended 28 June, according to the Labor Department, hitting 233,000, better than market expectations for a smaller decline to 240,000. Continuing claims were flat at 1.96m, their highest level since late 2021, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, fell by 3,750 to 241,500.
The US trade shortfall widened to $71.5bn in May, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, as exports fell 4% from a record high of $290.5bn to $279.0bn and imports decreased 0.1% to a seven-month low of $350.5bn.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management's services sector purchasing managers' index improved slightly in June, rising from 49.9 for May to 50.8, ahead of the consensus estimate of 50.5.
Donald Trump's megabill was also in focus on Thursday after finally passing the Senate on Tuesday and returning to the House for a final vote. After markets closed, the bill narrowly passed with a 218-214 vote.
Market movers
Shares in Tripadvisor jumped 26% after it was reported that activist investor Starboard Value had built a stake more than 9% in the travel review platform.
Software group Datadog surged ahead of its inclusion on the S&P 500 on 9 July.
Lastly, chip designers Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems rose as the government lifted export curbs on chip software to China.
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $264.13 2.64%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $298.24 2.59%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $213.55 2.26%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $498.84 1.96%
Boeing Co. (BA) $215.92 1.83%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $291.97 1.50%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $295.83 1.37%
Visa Inc. (V) $358.86 1.31%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $272.15 1.09%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $723.13 1.09%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.93 -1.77%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $28.46 -0.94%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.49 -0.79%
3M Co. (MMM) $152.94 -0.67%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $160.83 -0.23%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $294.08 -0.19%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $397.86 -0.14%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.47 -0.13%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.55 -0.09%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $371.81 -0.05%
S&P 500 - Risers
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $17.50 25.76%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $326.81 6.50%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $548.74 5.90%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $51.60 5.33%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $191.05 5.09%
Ansys Inc. (ANSS) $367.48 4.68%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $275.18 4.66%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $66.07 4.55%
Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $90.20 4.30%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $105.66 4.13%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $110.12 -4.50%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $304.06 -2.84%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $131.90 -2.74%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $155.37 -1.93%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $75.15 -1.84%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $233.91 -1.79%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $109.36 -1.78%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $80.93 -1.77%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $239.68 -1.69%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $6.76 -1.60%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $326.81 6.50%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $3.06 6.25%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $548.74 5.90%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $191.05 5.09%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $275.18 4.66%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $66.07 4.55%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $924.58 3.93%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $98.81 3.54%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $159.34 3.54%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $149.44 3.05%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $304.06 -2.84%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $155.37 -1.93%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $9.96 -1.78%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $379.31 -1.59%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $131.55 -1.55%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $10.21 -1.54%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $63.08 -0.83%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $97.66 -0.81%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.49 -0.79%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $32.07 -0.50%
22.57 (0.25%)
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