Stocks heading for record high after jobs report (SPY, SPX, DJI, IXIC)
Investing.com
The S&P 500 jumped to an all-time high after the July jobs report came in much better than expected.
According to the Labor Department, the economy added 217,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, beating the forecast of 170,000.
At 11:49 a.m. ET, the benchmark equity index is up 15 points, or 0.8%, to 2,181.65. The old intraday high, which it reached on Monday, was 2,178.29.
The Dow is up 155 points (0.85%), and the Nasdaq is up 17 points (0.81%), also on track for a record close.
The nonfarm-payrolls gain in June was revised up by 5,000, to 292,000, making this the second strong jobs report in a row.
"On every dimension, it seems to dispel any concerns that we had that the labor market weakening," said Harry Holzer, a former chief economist at the Labor Department.
"This is first glimpse we have of the third quarter," and it shows that economic growth is not about to stall, he told Business Insider.
That should be good for America's largest companies, which have slowed spending amid weaker profits.
Wage growth also topped expectations, and year-on-year average hourly earnings are at a post-recession high of 2.6%.
Meanwhile, Treasurys are selling off. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note is up three basis points, to 1.535%. And the two-year yield, which moves inversely to its price and is sensitive to interest-rate expectations, is up five basis points, to 0.698%.
The likelihood of another rate hike from the Federal Reserve by the end of the year rose in the Fed funds futures market.
"From a Fed definition perspective, the labor market is kind of at full employment," said Tony Bedikian, managing director and head of global markets at Citizens Bank.
"It's very difficult to see many negatives here, given that we got a pretty broad-based positive number today."
And so, the July jobs report marked a second straight month of strong job gains and should put away recent concerns about a hiring slowdown in the economy.
The dollar gained after the jobs report. Its index is up 0.6%, to 96.35.
In other news, Bristol-Myers shares tanked by as much as 16% after news that its blockbuster cancer drug failed a key clinical trial.