Stock Market Today: Stocks soar on bullish jobs report originally appeared on TheStreet.
Updated: 1:45 p.m. EDT
Stocks surged Thursday after the Labor Department reported a surprising gain in payroll employment in its monthly jobs report.
Payrolls jumped by 147,000 in June, the report said, much higher than consensus economic estimate of 106,000. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.1% in June from 4.2% in April and May.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq-100 indexes promptly reached 52-week highs after the open on what will be a shortened day of trading.
At the close, the S&P 500 was up 52 points, or 0.8%, to 6,279 after hitting a 52-week high at 6,284.65. All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 were higher, led by tech and financial stocks.
Among the leaders were chip-design companies Cadence Design (CDNS) and Synopsis (SNPS) , up about 5% each. The Trump administration lifted export controls so they can sell their software to Chinese chip companies. The move is seen as a further sign of de-escalating U.S.-Sino trade tensions.
The Nasdaq was up 208 points, or 1%, to 20,596, with its 52-week high at 20,624.51, and the Nasdaq-100 Index added 225 points, or 1%, to 22,866. Its 52-week high is now 52,896.
Not to be outdone, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 344 points, or 0.8%, to 44,829. The blue-chip index is still 245 points under its 52-week high of 45,074, reached on Dec. 4, 2024.
Some 262 stocks hit 52-week highs on Thursday, with just 11 hitting 52-week lows.
Markets closed at 1 p.m. ET today ahead of the July 4 holiday on Friday. U.S. markets will be closed on Friday.
The 10-year Treasury yield moved up to 4.349%, up from 4.284% on Wednesday. Mortgage rates were up slightly at 6.7%. (Home building stocks were lower as a result.)
Meanwhile, crude oil moved moved lower. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude was off 50 cents to $66.94 per 42-gallon barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was off 38 cents to $68.72 per barrel.
AAA said the average price of gasoline on Thursday was $3.162 per gallon. That’s down $3.171 on Wednesday and $3.512 a year ago.
One effect of the big jobs report it looks like the Federal Reserve won’t trim its key federal funds rate at its July 29-30 meeting. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool sees a 95% chance the central bank holds its rate at 4.25% to 4.5% at the meeting at month’s end.
That won’t cheer President Trump, who daily rails against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s reluctance to support a rate cut and even calls on him to resign. Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Administration says Powell should be investigated, whatever that means.
Powell has stated repeatedly that the risks of inflation are still high.
There is an irony about today’s jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that most of the gains were in state and local government payrolls.
State governments added 47,000 workers, the report said. Local governments added another 23,000 jobs. Federal government payrolls fell by 6,000 during the month.
Private-sector employment was little changed, with the reporting noting little changes in mining (which includes oil-and-gas employment), construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and transportation.
Datadog (DDOG) shares shot up 14.6% to $155.15 on Thursday after Standard & Poor’s announced late Wednesday that Datadog will join the S&P 500 on July 9. It will replace Juniper Networks, which has been bought by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) .
Datadog data-analytics software helps companies monitor the performance of servers, databases, tools, and services.
S&P’s move was a disappointment for fans of Robinhood Markets (HOOD) , the online brokerage firm with a focus on small, aggressive traders. Robinhood shares were down 3.7% to $94.40.
The betting had been that Robinhood would be the choice.
Getting invited into the S&P 500 is a prestige point for companies to use with customers and others. At the same time, inclusion in the S&P 500 forces money managers that manage index funds to adjust their holdings.
Lately, good news is good and bad news is good. In other words, when the news is good for the markets, stocks rise because of the good news. But when the news is bad, like if the news suggests that the economy is slowing, that’s also good because it will give the Fed more reason to cut rates.
Today, there was good news, and the market rallied.
The good news was the jobs report. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on the Employment Situation for June. And the news was generally better than expected.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000, much higher than the 106,000 expected. This led to a U.S. unemployment rate of 4.10%, which was lower than the expected 4.3%. Labor force participation was also down, which could be skewing the numbers.
Jobs lost by the federal government were picked up by state governments. Health care saw gains, as well.
Here’s the thing. With employment strong, the Fed has less reason to cut rates, which is what has been pushing stocks higher. Was Powell right? The bond market thinks so.
Initial reactions by traders saw stocks rip higher, the S&P adding nearly 20 points, and bonds crater. Since then. stocks have mostly given back their gains, though bonds remain sharply lower.
Here’s a look at futures:
Baristas were busy in Washington D.C., keeping our elected representatives in Congress up all night as they work feverishly to pass Pres. Trump’s tax bill. Apparently, they are close to a resolution. We’ll keep you posted.
Stock Market Today: Stocks soar on bullish jobs report first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 3, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.