Wall Street Storms to Records Q3 Opening Week After US Jobs Beat Forecast

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - US stocks made their third-quarter weekly debut with record highs for the blue-chip S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite indexes as strong job numbers for June signaled a further recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 index, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, raced to an all-time high of 4,355 before closing at 4,351. It was up 0.7% on the day and 1.6% on the week and quarter, extending its second-quarter gain of 8%.

Nasdaq, which includes high-flying tech stocks such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Google, hit a record high of 14,649 before settling at 14,639. It rose 0.8% on the day and 1.9% on the week and quarter, after the previous quarterly gain of nearly 10%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest US equity barometer on the New York Stock Exchange, finished at 34,786, rising 0.4% on the day and 1.0% on the week and quarter. The Dow was the only laggard among major US equity indices in the second quarter, falling 4.6%.

This week’s rally came after the Labor Department’s non-farm payrolls report for June showed that US employers added 850,000 jobs in June, at least 100,000 above average forecast levels, signaling further economic recovery from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.