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S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closes Friday as jobs report raises Fed rate cut hopes: Live updates

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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.

"On one hand, the downward revisions to prior months and the rise in the unemployment rate raises the odds of a September Fed rate cut — bond markets are certainly celebrating this," said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. "But those same figures cannot help but prompt a twinge of concern about the direction of the U.S. economy. The broad host of economic data all point to a softening — today's report adds to that picture."

Tesla rose more than 2%, posting a whopping week-to-date gain of about 27%, while Apple shares jumped more than 2% to a new all-time high. Nvidia slid nearly 2% following a rare Wall Street downgrade, which cited limited upside for the chipmaker. The stock was still up about 1.9% for the week.

All three major indexes finished the week in the green. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.5%, and the S&P 500 climbed nearly 2% during the period. The Dow underperformed, adding close to 0.7%. Markets were closed Thursday for Independence Day.

Stocks close higher on Friday

Stocks ended the shortened trading week in the green, with the broad market index and the Nasdaq Composite posting fresh all-time highs on Friday.

The S&P 500 gained 0.54% to close at 5,567.19, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.9% to 18,352.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17%, or 67.87 points, higher, to finish the session at 39,375.87.

— Pia Singh

Amazon could join the $3 trillion club, says Victoria Greene

Amazon's diverse set of company segments and investments could allow the firm to join the prestigious $3 trillion market capitalization club, according to G Squared Private Wealth Chief Investment Officer Victoria Greene. Such a move would see the e-commerce giant join the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.

"It's not just retail. Now it's AWS [Amazon Web Services], that's [a] better margin business and it'll probably hit 40% in the next five years for margins for them," she told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Friday. "I just love the fact that they continue to take care of their existing lines of businesses, they continue to grow more and more faster revenue growing businesses. … I think this is going to be the $3 trillion club in the next five years."

Amazon stock has climbed more than 31% in 2024.

— Brian Evans

CNBC Pro: Inflation will be in focus in the week ahead

Some key inflation readings in the week ahead could bolster the case for a September interest rate cut, as investors deliberate how long stocks can sustain their rally to record highs.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Sarah Min

JPMorgan stock on an upswing as earnings near

JPMorgan Chase is heading into earnings season on a high note.

Shares of the global bank are up 1.4% as the holiday-shortened week comes to a close. The stock is up about 3.9% over the past month and roughly 20.5% this year. JPMorgan will be one of the first major companies to report its second-quarter results on July 12, one week from today.

Other major bank stocks have also performed well this week, with Goldman Sachs up about 2.5%. However, the Financial SPDR Select Sector Fund (XLF) is up just 0.9%.

— Jesse Pound

JPMorgan eyes a comeback for Constellation Brands

JPMorgan thinks Constellation Brands stock can recover and rally after a sell-off earlier this week.

"Given favorable secular trends in U.S. alcoholic beverage consumption, including premiumization and faster growth in legal-drinking age Hispanic consumers, and further distribution runway for powerhouse Modelo Especial and emerging brands, we view the company's long-term revenue growth targets for its core beer segment as achievable," analyst Andrea Teixeira wrote in a note this week.

Teixeira also addressed concerns tied to Constellation's wine and spirits segment that fueled part of the stock sell-off, which she says will improve with time as margins grow and the company "premiumizes the portfolio."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Brian Evans

Apple shares advance almost 7% this week

Apple shares advanced 6.9% week to date, on track to close out a holiday-shortened week of gains.

The iPhone maker's move higher helped bolster the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, each of which hit record highs this week.

— Sarah Min

Nvidia's Jensen Huang sells nearly $60 million worth of shares in early July

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold $59.65 million worth of stock on June 28 and July 1, according to securities filings and information compiled by VerityData as of Wednesday.

Huang made his sales under a 10b5-1 trading plan. The plan establishes a predetermined price and time for executives to sell their shares in the future. 

More on recent insider sales can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Goldman hikes its growth forecast for the U.K. following Labour Party's landslide win

Incoming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Number 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London on July 5, 2024.
Phil Noble | Reuters
Incoming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Number 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London on July 5, 2024.

The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party won a resounding parliamentary majority in the country's general election to unseat the incumbent Conservative Party after 14 years. Labour had won more than 400 of the 650 seats in Parliament, according to the results with nearly all ballots counted.

Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour, will become the country's next prime minister and declared victory in the early hours.

Goldman Sachs upgraded its growth forecast for the U.K. following the election. The firm now forecasts gross domestic product to rise an additional 1 basis point in 2025 and 2026 to 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index was last up around 0.9%.

— Hakyung Kim

Small caps continue lagging

Small-cap stocks have underperformed this week, building on the difficulties faced by this group in the first half of the year.

The small cap-focused Russell 2000 has dropped more than 1% this week. With that, it is now lower by 0.2% on the year.

By comparison, all three of the major indexes are up on the week and year. The benchmark S&P 500 has climbed more than 1.5% this week, bringing its year-to-date rally above 16%.

— Alex Harring

Tesla stock is riding a 24% jump this week

Shares of Tesla have surged roughly 24% this week as investors continue to signal optimism following a stronger-than-expected second-quarter vehicle deliveries report.

Shares rallied immediately following the report and have helped the stock nearly erode its losses for 2024. Deliveries are the closest data point Tesla uses to report vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, the rally has cost short sellers of Tesla nearly $3.5 billion after the stock surged 17% in the two days following its deliveries report.

— Brian Evans

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Here are the stocks on the move midday:

  • Nvidia – Shares of the artificial intelligence darling fell 1% after a rare negative call on Wall Street. New Street Research downgraded Nvidia to hold from buy, citing limited upside given the big run already this year. It is only the second downgrade of Nvidia this year.
  • Macy's – Shares of the retailer jumped more than 12% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the investor group of Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management increased its buyout offer. The group is now offering about $24.80 per share for Macy's, up from $24 previously, the report said.
  • Crypto stocks — Stocks tied to the cryptocurrency plummeted after the trustee for the now defunct Mt. Gox exchange said the company has begun making payments in both bitcoin and bitcoin cash to creditors. Marathon Digital was down 6% following the news, while Microstrategy and Coinbase were each down more than 3%. Bitcoin miner Iris Energy tumbled 6%, while fellow miner CleanSpark fell 2.5%. Trading platforms Robinhood and Riot Platforms were both down more than 2% as well.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

South Korea ETF on pace for fifth straight positive week

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) is up 2.4% on Friday, on pace for its eighth straight positive day and best daily performance since June 12, when the exchange-traded fund climbed around 2.5%.

Week to date, the ETF is up 3.2%, on track for its fifth straight weekly gain and best week since April 26, when EWY advanced 3.3%.

Samsung Electronics rallied nearly 6.9% this week, turning in its fifth straight positive week and the best week since March 22, when it added 9.1%.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla

U.S. crude oil tops $84 per barrel, touches two-month high

An oil pumpjack is shown in a field in Stanton, Texas, on June 27, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images
An oil pumpjack is shown in a field in Stanton, Texas, on June 27, 2024.

U.S. crude oil topped $84 per barrel on Friday, touching two-month highs, as the benchmark is on pace for a fourth straight weekly gain.

West Texas Intermediate hit an intraday high of $84.52 per barrel, the highest level since late April.

Oil prices have rallied recently as analysts forecast a tighter third quarter, with inventories falling as summer fuel demand picks up and OPEC+ keeps production cuts in place through September.

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have also provided support as Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah stand on the brink of war.

Hurricane Beryl has underlined weather risks to refineries and oil production facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Though Hurricane Beryl is not expected to cause major disruptions, weather forecasters are expecting a highly active hurricane season this year.

— Spencer Kimball

Fed will likely cut rates twice this year, says JPMorgan's Kelly

Investors can expect two interest rate cuts this year, according to David Kelly, JPMorgan Asset Management's chief global strategist.

Friday's jobs report adds to the view that the economy is tightening at a glacial pace, Kelly said. While it is hard to read into market movement on the Friday after the Independence Day holiday, he said traders can reasonably expect the Federal Reserve to decrease the cost of borrowing money in September and December.

"What we're seeing is the economy is cooling, but it's cooling slowly," he said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "That's very much the theme of this jobs report."

One detail of the report he highlighted: Despite the labor market remaining tight, it is not resulting in outsized wage growth, as evidenced by average hourly pay figures.

Kelly said he is now looking toward next week's consumer price index release, which he said should be down to 3.2% on an annualized basis. That can push the personal consumption index lower, he said, and give the Fed justification to start lowering rates in the near future.

The strategy chief advised investors to ensure they are properly diversified within the stock market. That is because a correction could hit the rallying megacap technology stocks particularly hard, Kelly warned.

— Alex Harring

September rate cut expectations rise following jobs report

Traders upped their bets on a September interest rate cut following Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for June.

The report, which showed slightly better-than-expected job creation and a bump up in the unemployment rate to 4.1%, helped raise expectations that the Federal Reserve would ease when it meets on Sept. 17-18.

Odds of a quarter-point cut increased to about 75% Friday morning, up from 64% a week ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch monitor of fed funds futures pricing. Expectations for a second reduction in December also increased, up to 72% from about 53% last week.

— Jeff Cox

Health care, government lead uneven June jobs growth

Shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images

The June jobs report showed uneven growth, with health care and social assistance and government jobs as the key areas of strength. Together, those areas accounted for roughly three-fourths of last month's job growth.

On the other hand, employment for professional and business services fell by 17,000 jobs. Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, pointed out that the unemployment rate ticked up among workers with at least a bachelor's degree

"The increase in the unemployment rate, especially for those with at least a Bachelor's degree, suggests a modest cooling of the labor market. So far, we don't see apocalyptic signs within the labor market, but investors should be wary when the labor market is supported by government payrolls," Roach said in a note Friday morning.

Check out the chart breaking down June's jobs growth by sector here.

— Jesse Pound

Fed minutes provide little indication of imminent rate cuts

Federal Reserve officials at their June meeting showed little inclination to start lowering interest rates until they see better progress on inflation, according to minutes released Wednesday.

Participants at the June 11-12 session of the Federal Open Market Committee said they did not envision cuts "until additional information had emerged to give them greater confidence that inflation was moving sustainably toward the Committee's 2 percent objective," the summary stated.

Officials debated over the future of policy, with some members standing ready to hike if inflation turns higher, while others noted the importance of responding to economic weakness.

— Jeff Cox

Nvidia heads for weekly gain, looks poised to snap two-week losing streak

Shares of Nvidia have jumped about 3% since the start of the week, and look poised to snap a two-week losing streak.

The leading artificial intelligence chipmaker pulled back a combined 6.4% in the last two weeks of June as some investors consolidated gains in the sector.

The stock slipped less than 1% during Friday's session after New Street Research downgraded the chipmaker to neutral. Shares are up 159% since the start of 2024.

— Samantha Subin

S&P 500 edges up after market open, reaches new record high

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on July 3, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on July 3, 2024.

The S&P 500 opened just above flat, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.15% higher shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The Dow lost 55 points, or about 0.1%.

— Pia Singh

Some Treasury yields hit April lows

Several U.S. Treasury yields reached lows going back to April on Friday as traders analyzed the latest labor data.

The well-followed 2-year yield moved as far down as 4.631%. That marks its lowest level since April 1, when it touched 4.595%.

The 1-year yield slipped as low as 5.019%. That is its lowest going back to April 4, when it recorded 4.997%.

The 6-month yield at one point fell to 5.297%, its worst point since April 5. On that day, the yield hit 5.294%.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

'Trade-offs for the Fed have shifted' after June jobs report, Renaissance Macro Research says

June's job report data should push central bankers to cut interest rates this fall, according to Renaissance Macro Research.

"This is not a close call," the firm wrote in a July 5 post on social media site X. "The unemployment rate is climbing & payroll growth is slowing. Conditions in the labor market are cooling off. The trade-offs for the Fed have shifted. If they don't cut this month, they ought to make a strong signal a cut is coming in September."

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June, the Labor Department reported Friday. That came out higher than expectations for the jobless rate to hold steady at 4%. The U.S. economy added 206,000 jobs during the month, signaling continued strength in the labor market.

— Pia Singh

U.S. added 206,000 jobs in June, unemployment rate hits 4.1%

Elizabeth Brunner (L) and Hope Johnson (R), recruiters for the City of Pompano Beach, speak to job seekers during the JobNewsUSA.com South Florida Job Fair held at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on June 26, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Elizabeth Brunner (L) and Hope Johnson (R), recruiters for the City of Pompano Beach, speak to job seekers during the JobNewsUSA.com South Florida Job Fair held at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on June 26, 2024.

June's payrolls report showed a gain of 206,000 jobs for the U.S. economy, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting a gain of 200,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%.

The June number is down from the previous month. The May reading was revised down to 218,000 from 272,000.

— Jesse Pound

Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Macy's, Tesla and more

These are the stocks moving the most in premarket trading:

  • Macy's — Shares of the retailer jumped more than 6% following a Wall Street Journal report that an investor grouped has hiked its takeout offer.
  • Tesla — The electric vehicle manufacturer popped 2%, marking a continuing comeback after its second-quarter vehicle deliveries number beat analysts' estimates earlier this week.
  • Novo Nordisk — U.S.-traded shares of the pharmaceutical giant rose 1.9% premarket even after a study from Harvard linked semaglutide, which is present in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, to an increased risk of a rare eye disease.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Bitcoin takes another leg down as Mt. Gox repayments to creditors begin

Thomas Trutschel | Photothek | Getty Images

Stocks tied to the price of bitcoin slid after the cryptocurrency dropped 5% to its lowest level since February, as the now defunct Mt. Gox exchange has begun repayments to creditors, as expected.

Coinbase and MicroStrategy each lost 5% in premarket trading. Among miners, Iris Energy tumbled 8%, while CleanSpark fell 5%. Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms were down 6% and 4%, respectively.

"Most of the selling has been attributed to the Mt. Gox repayments, though there are other factors at play as well," Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, told CNBC. "The story around the German government selling bitcoin has added to the downside pressure which has only been further intensified on leveraged long liquidations and a major technical break in the price of bitcoin below the May low at $56,500."

"None of this has been shocking or unexpected and there has been nothing that has fundamentally altered the highly constructive outlook for bitcoin and crypto assets, suggesting additional downside should be limited in favor of a strong recovery, as medium- and longer-term players look to take advantage and build exposure into the dip," he added.

— Tanaya Macheel

Stocks head for winning week

With just one day left in the holiday-shortened trading week, the three major indexes are on track for gains.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 have climbed more than 2.5% and 1%, respectively, this week. Both closed at new highs and touched fresh intraday records on Wednesday.

The Dow has added 0.5% this week.

The New York Stock Exchange closed early on Wednesday and was dark on Thursday for Independence Day.

— Alex Harring

Investors gear up for jobs data

A health-care career fair at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Allison Joyce | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A health-care career fair at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Traders are awaiting Friday morning's all-important jobs report.

Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the following for June:

  • Nonfarm payrolls increase by 200,000 jobs.
  • The unemployment rate will hold steady at 4%.
  • Average hourly wages climb 0.3% from the prior month.
  • Average hourly wages to be 3.9% higher than the same month a year ago.

Read more about what to expect here.

— Alex Harring, Jeff Cox

S&P 500 futures near flat

Futures tied to the S&P 500 futures were little changed shortly after 6 p.m. ET. Dow futures added 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.2%.

— Alex Harring

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