Midnight Trader | Jul 03, 2014 01:24PM ET
An historic day on Wall Street was ignited by another gain in new job creation, coupled with a decline in the jobless rate. The news sent the Dow Industrials through a key psychological milestone of 17,000 and inspired record highs for both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite in the abbreviated session. The gains swept through all sectors, with the exception of utilities, health care and telecoms. Industrials put in the best performance as Wall Street cheered the combination of an above-consensus gain in payrolls seen not strong enough to alter Federal Reserve monetary policy.
U.S. markets are closed Friday for Independence Day.
Jobs, Jobs And More Jobs
Non-farm payrolls rose 288,000 in June, beating estimates for a 211,000 increase and followed an upward revision to April and May to 304,000 and 224,000, respectively. The result dropped the jobless rate to 6.1% from 6.3% the month prior.
In addition to the employment data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to 5.6% $44.4 billion, beating estimates for a $45.1 billion deficit.
Lost in the excitement of the payroll report was a 2,000 gain in initial jobless claims to 315,000 new claims, slightly above the 314,000 new claims expected.
In the services sector, the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index fell to 56.0 in June from 56.3 prior, while the Purchasing Manager's final index for the services sector was revised to 61.0 from 58.1 in May.
European markets shared in Wall Street's good fortune, closing higher across the continent. Interest rates took center stage in Europe after the European Central Bank left rates unchanged but opened the door for further rate cuts, while the Swedes cut their key lending rates by a greater-than-expected 50 basis points.
Commodities
Crude Oil was down $0.71 to $103.77 per barrel. Natural Gas was up $0.01 to $4.36 per 1 million BTU. Gold was down $10.50 to $1,320.10 an ounce while Silver was down $0.13 to $21.17 an ounce. Copper was up $0.01 to $3.28 per pound.
Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) was down 0.37% to $38.27 with the US Natural Gas Fund (ARCA:UNG) was up 0.15% to $24.04. Amongst precious-metal funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners (ARCA:GDX) ETF was down 0.29% to 26.42 while SPDR Gold Trust (ARCA:GLD) was down 0.49% to $127.09. The iShares Silver Trust (ARCA:SLV) was down 0.07% to $20.29.
h2 Here's Where The Markets Stood At The Close/h2UPSIDE MOVERS
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
After Hours Stock News From Midnight Trader .
Copyright © 2014 MT Newswires, a Division of MidnightTrader, Inc.
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.