Wall Street reached new heights Friday after the S&P closed for the seventh consecutive day. The S&P was closing at 7:07 p.m. on Friday. This occurred after June jobs data showed that the labor market is still weak. However, this will not stop the Federal Reserve raising interest rates soon.Record highs were achieved by the three main U.S. indexes, the S&P Dow, Dow and Nasdaq. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, this streak was the longest consecutive string of record closes since June 1997.According to the Labor Department's employment report, nonfarm payrolls rose by 850,000 jobs in October but is still 6.8 million lower than its peak in February 2020.Although the data was better than expected, it was not enough for the Fed to raise rates.Wall Street stocks rose due to big tech, while yields on U.S. Treasury notes of the 10-year benchmark fell to 1.431%.Darrell Cronk is chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management. He said that this report was a "goldilocks report" for capital markets, equities, and bonds. "There were enough jobs you would want to see, but it wasn't so many that it worries people that the Fed might have to act sooner."Investors fear a stronger than expected recovery and the possibility of rising inflation, which could lead to the Fed cutting support and raising rates. This would hurt technology shares, whose growth and cash flow are further in the future.Microsoft Corp contributed the most to S&P's broad advancement, followed closely by Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Financial stock, which earn less at lower rates, also fell, as did utilities.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 152.82 points or 0.44% to 34,786.35, while the S&P 500 gained 32.4 point, or 0.755%, at 4,352.34, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 116.95 point, or 0.811%, to 14,639.33.The S&P gained 1.7%, Dow rose 1.0%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.9% for the week.The long weekend saw little trading, as the U.S. markets were closed on Monday to observe Independence Day. The volume on U.S. markets was 7.95 Billion shares, which is compared to the 10.81 Billion average for a full trading session in the past 20 days.According to David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, the headwinds that have affected hiring, such as jobless benefits or vaccine concerns, will likely decrease in the fall, which could help boost jobs growth, said Joy.Joy stated that "for now, the recovery of the labor market isn't so robust as to bring forward any further Fed's eventual tightening."According to Bill Northey (senior investment director at U.S Bank Wealth Management), the report was evidence of the economy’s continuing recovery.Northey stated that "some of the most affected corners of the U.S. Economy, namely retail and leisure, showed some the strongest improvements."Now, the focus shifts to the second quarter earnings season and the progress on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill which could help the equity markets keep their momentum.Investors will be looking at minutes from the Fed's June meeting for the most recent views on inflation, bond taping and rates in a time when an easy monetary policy appears to have reached an inflection point amid a growing U.S. economy.Tesla Inc gained 0.15% following record-breaking vehicle deliveries in the second quarter, which also beat Wall Street expectations. The stock fell for much of the session. Elon Musk, CEO, warned that it would be difficult to secure chips and raw materials. Continue readingVirgin Galactic Holdings rose 4.1% following the announcement by the space tourism company that Richard Branson, a billionaire entrepreneur, would fly to the edge of space with the company's test flight July 11, beating Jeff Bezos, an aspiring billionaire astronaut. Continue readingDidi Global Inc plunged 5.3% following China's cyberspace agency announcing it would launch a new investigation into China's ride-hailing giant in order to safeguard national security. Continue readingOn the NYSE, declining issues were outnumbered by advancing ones by a ratio of 1.13 to 1.S&P 500 recorded 58 new 52-week highs, and no new lows. The Nasdaq Composite posted 79 new highs (and 45 new lows).
