US stocks closed Thursday around record highs ahead of Friday’s non-farm payrolls data. Also providing a boost was strong initial jobless claims data released on Thursday,
The S&P 500 hit its sixth straight all-time closing high on Thursday, up 0.52%. The Dow Jones closed up 0.38% whilst the NASDAQ closed up 0.13%.
US stocks were boosted by a promising start to a new quarter. Upbeat economic news including Jobless claims continuing its downward trajectory. Jobless claims in the US reached their lowest level since the pandemic lockdowns.
Labor Department data showed Thursday that Initial claims in regular state programs fell by 51,000 to 364,000 in the week ended June 26th. The latest figures are less than the 388,000 initial applications market analysts forecast.
Non-Farm Payroll Data
Stocks received a boost on market optimism ahead of today’s key non-farm payrolls data. Economists forecast that the U.S. economy created 700,000 jobs in June, up from the 559,000 created in May. Should the numbers come in as forecast, it would be higher than the 540,000 monthly average over the past three months.
However, in the last two months, non-farm payrolls have come in below forecasts. Labour shortages have restricted the rate of the recovery from the pandemic.
Fears of a Pull Back in Stocks
With US stocks at record highs and the US Dollar hitting a 3-month high in Friday’s Forex markets, there are growing fears of a correction in the stock markets coming soon.
Giles Coghlan, chief currency analyst at HYCM said of a possible pullback:
“The market is generally nervous with equity prices like the S&P500 being up at all-time highs, and there’s a general sense of there is a pullback coming, but when is it going to be and what’s the catalyst,”
“One catalyst for a pullback could be is a very strong run of jobs data, increasing expectations of earlier rate hikes out of the United States. That could be enough to start seeing a pullback in equity markets,”
