The New York Stock Exchange closed higher today in a shortened session on the eve of a U.S. holiday, with the Nasdaq and S&P500 indices reaching new record highs.
The session results show that the Nasdaq gained 1.02%, the broad S&P500 advanced by 0.83%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.77%.
The session was shortened by three hours due to the national holiday on July 4, a Friday when Wall Street will be closed.
“The release of positive economic statistics was one of the main drivers of the day’s strong performance,” summarized the economists at Briefing.com in an analytical note.
“It was a good progression, due to better-than-expected employment numbers,” said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities, in statements to AFP.
In June, 147,000 jobs were created in the U.S., surpassing the 110,000 forecasted by analysts, according to the average survey by MarketWatch, and nearly matching May’s figure of 144,000.
The unemployment rate, on the other hand, decreased from 4.2% to 4.1%, values considered close to full employment.
These numbers support the central bank’s position that there is no urgency to lower the benchmark interest rate.
In other indicators, service activity increased in June to 50.8% from 49.9% in June.
On the other hand, jobless claims fell from the previous week to 233,000.
Investors were also attentive to news from Congress, assuming the approval of Donald Trump’s budget proposal.
Some analysts warn of the expected explosion of the public deficit. The independent Congressional Budget Office, which assesses the budgetary impact of bills on public finances, estimated on Tuesday that public debt will increase by more than $3.4 trillion by 2034.
