S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closes Friday as jobs report raises Fed rate cut hopes
The S&P 500 rose to a new high on Friday, posting a record close as the latest jobs report reignited hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 rose to a new high on Friday, posting a record close as the latest jobs report reignited hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
The broad market index advanced 0.54%, closing at 5,567.19, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.90% to end at 18,352.76. Both indexes reached all-time highs during the session and ended at records, with the S&P 500 registering its 34th record close in 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17%, or 67.87 points, ending at 39,375.87.
The S&P 500′s rally this year has grown to 16.7%, with the benchmark posting its fourth positive week in the last five as investors bet that any economic weakness later this year will be met with a Federal Reserve rate cut. The Nasdaq’s year-to-date gain is 22.3%.
Widely monitored labor data released Friday morning reflected a 206,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls in June, but a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, which rose to 4.1%. Economists expected the jobless rate to remain steady at 4%.
Treasury yields fell following the report on expectations the uptick in unemployment would spur the Fed to cut interest rates later this year. Investors hiked their bets on a September interest rate cut, with odds of a quarter-point cut increasing to about 77%, up from 64% a week ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
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