S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Hit New Record Highs as Wall Street Mostly Likes June Jobs Report

Many on Wall Street saw that as a positive for a market that wants enough economic weakness to let the Federal Reserve cut U.S. interest rates.

The Nasdaq led the way upward rising as much as 110.89 points (0.6%) in trading's first few minutes to a 18,299.19 intraday record. The S&P 500 likewise added 10.86 ticks (0.2%) to a 5,547.88 record.

Stocks mostly rose after the U.S. Labor Department reported before the bell that the American economy created 206,000 nonfarm jobs during June – slightly better than the roughly 200,000 that economists had expected.

Still, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% from May's 4% to reach its highest level since October 2021.

Wall Street is mostly looking for a weaker labor market that could pave the way for the Fed to cut interest rates. That historically benefits stocks by making bond and money-market yields fall.