US Stocks extend gains on pleasing jobs reports

The US stock market finished session higher on Thursday, 02 July 2020, with the Nasdaq reached an all-time closing high, as bullish investors took heart from better than expected June employment report which provided assurance that the U.S. economic recovery was well under way. However, market gains capped amid concerns about rising coronavirus cases.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 92.39 points, or 0.36%, to 25,827.36. The S&P 500 index gained by 14.15 points, or 0.45%, to 3,130.01. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 53 points, or 0.52%, to 10,207.63. The stock market will be closed on Friday in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

Wall Street stocks rallied for a fourth straight session on Thursday, after better-than-estimated jobs data indicated an economic rebound from the sharpest contraction on record. The U.S. regained 4.8 million jobs in June 2020 after an upwardly revised 2.7-million gain in the prior month, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 11.1% from 13.3% in May. The rebound in the labour market accelerated as broader reopenings spurred more hiring last month.

However, market gains capped amid concerns about rising coronavirus cases. US daily cases topped 50,000 for the first time with increases in major states including Florida, Texas and California. On Thursday, Florida reported a record-shattering 10,000 new cases of the disease.

All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 were in the black, with energy shares enjoywd the largest%age gain.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Factory Orders Spike In May- US factory orders spiked by 8.0% in May after plunging by a revised 13.5% in April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The rebound in factory orders came as durable goods orders soared by 15.7% in May following an 18.3% nosedive in April. Orders for transportation equipment led the rebound, skyrocketing by 82%. The report also showed a notable rebound in orders for non-durable goods, which jumped by 2% in May after tumbling by 9.3% in April. The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods surged up by 3.1% in May following four consecutive monthly decreases. Meanwhile, inventories of manufactured goods edged up by 0.2% in May after falling by 0.5% in the previous month. With shipments increasing by much more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio dropped to 1.65 in May from 1.70 in April.

US Jobless Claims Dip To 1.427 Million- First-time claims for US unemployment benefits fell to 1.427 million in the week ended June 27th, a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed. Initial jobless claims dropped to 1.427 million, a decrease of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.482 million.

US Regains 4.8 Million Jobs In June- US non-farm payroll employment skyrocketed by 4.8 million jobs in June after soaring by an upwardly revised 2.7 million jobs in May, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The Labor Department noted the improvement in the labor market reflected the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. However, the combined jump of 7.5 million jobs seen over the past two months has only partly offset the combined nosedive of 22.2 million jobs seen in March and April.

Among Indian ADR, Wipro rose 3.07% to $3.36, WNS Holdings added 1.79% to $55.69, Dr Reddys Labs was up 1.11% to $52.88, Tata Motors added 2.84% to $6.87, INFOSYS rose 2.48% to $9.92, and ICICI Bank added 0.31% to $9.63, while Vedanta fell 1.05% to $5.65 and HDFC Bank dropped 0.35% to $47.76.

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