Market winning streak | Strong jobs report | Gas prices rising into holiday weekend

FRI, JUL 02, 2021

EVENING BRIEF

AS OF FRI, JUL 02, 2021 • 04:28 ET

DJIA		34786.35
		+0.44%	+152.82

S&P 500		4352.34
		+0.75%	+32.40

NASDAQ		14639.33
		+0.81%	+116.95

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DOW
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	139.96	+2.69	+1.96%
MSFT	277.65	+6.05	+2.23%
INTC	56.76	+0.75	+1.34%

S&P 500
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	139.96	+2.69	+1.96%
AMD	94.70	+1.39	+1.49%
F	14.93	+0.02	+0.13%

NASDAQ
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	139.96	+2.69	+1.96%
AMD	94.70	+1.39	+1.49%
TSLA	678.90	+0.98	+0.14%

EDITOR'S NOTE

A better-than-expected improvement in the U.S. labor picture boosted stocks on Friday.

Job growth in June rose as businesses looked to keep up with a rapidly recovering economy. Nonfarm payrolls increased 850,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 706,000, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 5.9%, higher than expectations of 5.6%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 152 points. The S&P 500 rose for a 7th day in a row, its best winning streak in 10 months. The benchmark notched a new record after gaining 0.75%.

The Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.8% to an all-time high.

"I think it was one of these goldilocks-type of reports, because hiring accelerated -- which is a positive sign for the second half and the recovery -- but not so much that it would trigger a reaction of an accelerated timeline for the Federal Reserve to start tapering," said Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said the report soothed concerns about a shortage in the labor market.

"I think we also learned that the explanations for the weaker numbers from April and May — namely that seasonal probably weighing on job growth and probably some impact from the unemployment benefits on labor supply — that those were pretty good explanations. So I think it was reassuring, in that sense," Hatzius said, adding that the unemployment rate coming in higher than expected showed that the recovery still had a long way to go.

Stocks ended the week higher, after finishing up a strong second quarter and first half on Wednesday. The Dow rose 1% this week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively, since Monday.