Wall Street Climbs to New Heights
On Thursday, U.S. markets soared to fresh record closes, as investors shrugged off slim hopes of a near-term rate cut and found confidence in a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report. Meanwhile, Nvidia's meteoric rise continued, inching the chipmaker closer to a historic valuation milestone.
Nvidia Inches Toward Market Valuation History
Shares of Nvidia rose by 1.3%, boosting the company's market cap to $3.89 trillion. At this pace, Nvidia may soon surpass Apple to become the most valuable publicly traded company in history.
Jobs Report Exceeds Forecasts
June's employment data offered a strong dose of optimism. The U.S. economy added 147,000 nonfarm jobs — beating economists' forecasts by 33%. Unemployment dropped to 4.1%, better than the expected 4.3%, reinforcing confidence in economic resilience.
Short Session, Strong Momentum
Despite a shortened trading day ahead of the Independence Day holiday, market momentum remained strong, pushing key indices to fresh highs.
Market closing figures:
- S&P 500: up 51.94 points (0.83%) to 6279.36;
- Nasdaq Composite: up 207.97 points (1.02%) to 20601.10;
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: up 344.11 points (0.77%) to 44828.53.
July Rate Cut Less Likely, Say Traders
Market participants have swiftly adjusted their expectations: a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in July now seems less likely. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, the probability of a 25 basis point cut in September dropped to 68 percent, down from 74 percent just a week ago.
Trump Tax Bill Clears House
After the closing bell, House Republicans gave the green light to former President Donald Trump's sweeping proposal to slash both taxes and federal spending — a widely anticipated outcome.
However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned that the bill would add 3.4 trillion dollars to the national debt, which currently stands at 36.2 trillion. Additionally, millions of Americans could lose their health insurance under the new fiscal plan.
Tripadvisor and Datadog Rally on News
Tripadvisor shares jumped 16.7 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Starboard Value acquired more than 9 percent of the travel platform's stock.
Datadog saw an even bigger leap — up 14.9 percent — following news that the cloud security company will replace Juniper Networks in the S&P 500 index.
Light Trading Ahead of the Holiday
Markets closed early at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Trading volume across U.S. exchanges was light, totaling 10.85 billion shares — well below the 20-day average of 17.82 billion.
Asia Shows Caution as Wall Street Hits Records
Asian stock markets ended Friday with mixed results, as investors turned cautious despite record highs on Wall Street the day before. With the deadline for U.S. trade agreements approaching next week, uncertainty weighed on regional sentiment.
Dollar Rebounds While U.S. Markets Pause
The U.S. dollar regained some of its earlier momentum from Thursday, as American markets entered a week-long break. Traders are now watching closely as President Trump prepares to sign a sweeping spending bill with significant economic implications.
Japan Gains, Rest of Asia Pulls Back
Asian markets responded unevenly. Japan's Nikkei index edged up by 0.3 percent following an early session marked by volatility.
Elsewhere in the region:
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3 percent;
- Mainland China's CSI300 dipped slightly;
- Taiwan lost its early lead and closed 0.2 percent lower;
- South Korea's KOSPI dropped by more than 1 percent.
Massive Spending Bill Clears House, Adds to Debt
Late Thursday, the House of Representatives narrowly passed President Trump's extensive fiscal bill, spanning 869 pages. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will raise the national debt by 3.4 trillion dollars, bringing the total to 36.2 trillion.
Trade Moves Ahead of July Deadline
President Trump also announced plans to send formal letters to trading partners outlining updated tariff rates, as existing deals remain unresolved ahead of the July 9 deadline.
He expressed optimism about reaching more trade agreements in the coming days. Following a finalized deal with Vietnam earlier this week, the U.S. currently has only two framework agreements in place — with China and the United Kingdom — which remain the sole confirmed outcomes of his current trade agenda.
India Deal Close, but Asian Trade Talks Stumble
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced earlier this week that a trade agreement with India is nearing completion. Meanwhile, negotiations with Japan and South Korea — once celebrated by the White House as early wins — now appear to be falling apart, raising doubts about their future inclusion in Washington's trade agenda.
Job Market Surprises with Resilience
Thursday's employment report defied expectations, painting a picture of a stronger-than-expected U.S. economy. Analyst Sycamore noted, "The data shows the economy is holding up far better than most anticipated, and that suggests markets could easily continue their upward path from here."
Rate Cut Hopes Fade Fast
The robust labor market data prompted traders to abandon expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut this month. Optimism about monetary easing has effectively evaporated — at least in the short term.
Dollar Strengthens, Then Softens
The U.S. dollar gained ground against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, rising as much as 0.7 percent before paring back to close the session up 0.4 percent.
By Friday morning, the greenback had pulled back slightly:
- down 0.2 percent to 144.62 yen;
- off 0.1 percent to 0.7942 Swiss francs.
Elsewhere in currencies:
- the euro inched up 0.1 percent to 1.1766 dollars;
- the British pound held steady at 1.3650 dollars.
Modest Gains in Gold and Oil
Gold prices edged up 0.1 percent, reaching 3329.54 dollars per ounce.
Oil futures showed slight increases:
- Brent crude rose by 1 cent to 68.81 dollars per barrel;
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 3 cents to 67.03 dollars per barrel.
