NEW YORK — On Thursday, U.S. equities surged even higher into all-time highs following a report that indicated the U.S. labor market appears to be doing better than Wall Street had anticipated.
The S&P 500 increased by 0.8% and, for the fourth time in five days, reached a record high. The Nasdaq composite increased 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 344 points, or 0.8%.
Gains in the market were widespread, and businesses that stand to earn the most from increased employee confidence helped set the pace. Norwegian Cruise Line surged 2.9% higher, while Expedia increased 3.2%.
Additionally, bank stocks performed well, with JPMorgan Chase up 1.9% and Citigroup up 2.3%.
When the U.S. government reported that employers added 147,000 more jobs to their payrolls last month than they lost, the bond market reacted more strongly. Despite concerns about how President Donald Trump’s tariffs may harm the economy and inflation, the unexpected hiring surge shows the U.S. labor market is holding up.
Carl Weinberg, chief economist of High Frequency Economics, says there is nothing to be unhappy about. These numbers don’t show any signs of a developing recession.
According to a different survey, however, fewer American workers filed for unemployment insurance last week, suggesting that layoffs are slowing down.
Bond market yields surged as investors wagered that the better-than-expected statistics may prevent the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates, as Trump has been adamantly demanding.
The likelihood that the Fed would lower its main interest rate at its next meeting later this month is currently less than 5%, according to futures market traders. According to data from CME Group, that is a significant decrease from the approximately 24% chance they observed only one day prior.
