STOCKS EDGE HIGHER: Here's what you need to know
The S&P 500 added 0.1%, while the Dow climbed 0.2% to a record-high close and the Nasdaq rose less than 0.1%. Government data released Friday morning showed employers steadily added workers in July, while wage growth increased.
First up, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 22,077.91, +51.70, (+0.23%)
- S&P 500: 2,475.82, +3.84, (+0.16%)
- Nasdaq: 6,348.90, +8.51, (+0.13%)
- US 10-year yield: 2.27%, +0.039
- WTI crude oil: $49.51, +0.48, +0.98%
1. The monthly jobs report beat expectations, while the unemployment rate returned to a 16-year low. US employers added 209,000 jobs on net, while the unemployment rate returned to a 16-year low of 4.3%, according to the Labor Department's report.
2. The dollar gained sharply after the jobs report. It was a rare day of strength for the greenback, which, through Thursday, had fallen nearly 8% since inauguration day, as President Donald Trump's economic agenda has stalled.
3. Trump and Yellen could derail the red-hot tech trade. That's because the fate of tech stocks - and, by extension, the investment funds that hold them in abundance - is getting increasingly tied to macro factors.
4. Stock pickers are having a record-breaking year. About 58% of large-cap fund managers beat their benchmark in July, marking the fifth straight month in which a majority of them outperformed. That's the longest such streak on record.
5 . Wall Street is bracing for another debt-ceiling debacle. Investors are requiring a higher premium to hold the bills that mature during the weeks in mid-October when the debt ceiling could be breached.
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