S&P 500 Hits Record on Weak July Jobs Report
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- S&P 500 set a fresh record, gaining 0.62% to 7,757.98, with the Dow up 0.17% to 53,976.97 and the Nasdaq climbing 1.3% to 26,691.82 after July nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000 against expectations of 80,000 additions
- Federal Reserve September rate-hike odds fell from 55% to roughly 20% following the jobs data, per LSEG-tracked money markets, with new Chair Kevin Warsh offering investors limited forward guidance
- SpaceX shares surged 10.6% a day after the first share lockup restriction expired following its record June IPO, recovering from earlier post-IPO weakness
- Atlassian jumped 30.2% after beating Q4 profit and revenue estimates, while Microchip Tech advanced 13.8% on an upbeat quarterly revenue forecast, helping the chip index rise 2.3%
- Cloudflare gained 7.3% after raising its full-year revenue outlook above estimates, lifting the S&P software and services index 1.5%; Nvidia climbed 2.6%
- Airbnb rose 15.4% after beating Q2 revenue estimates, while Trade Desk dropped 21.7% on a disappointing Q3 forecast
- More than 85% of the 400-plus S&P 500 companies that have reported this quarter beat analyst expectations, well above the 68% typical beat rate since 1994, per LSEG I/B/E/S
Why it matters: A surprise labor-market cooling gives the Fed under new Chair Kevin Warsh room to delay further tightening — traders slashed September hike odds to 20% — while the rally's unusual breadth (85%+ earnings beat rate, AI stocks clawing back from a near-10% Nasdaq pullback, broad sector gains) signals investors are rewarding earnings surprises rather than fleeing macro risk.
