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S&P 500 Index notches new record-high above 4,220 despite disappointing NFP report

  • S&P 500 Index touched a new all-time high on Friday.
  • Nonfarm Payrolls in US rose by 266K in April vs 978K expected.
  • Technology shares post strong gains after the opening bell.

Wall Street's main indexes started the last trading day of the week in the positive territory despite the gloomy April jobs report. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was trading at a new all-time high of 4,222, rising 0.5% on the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.25% at 34,636 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 1% at 13,750.

Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that Nonfarm Payrolls in the US increased by 266,000 in April. Although this reading missed the market expectation of 978,000 by a wide margin, stock markets reacted positively with investors pricing ongoing fiscal and monetary policy support without worrying about the economy overheating.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the risk-sensitive Technology Index is rising 0.75% on a daily basis. On the other hand, the Financials Index stays in the negative territory pressured by declining US Treasury bond yields.

S&P 500 chart (daily)

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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