Stock market news live updates: Stocks jump after June jobs data smash expectations – Yahoo Canada Finance

Stock rose on Thursday, as investors cheered the resiliency of a U.S. economy that created nearly 5 million jobs last month in the throes of the raging coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. economy added a greater than expected number of payrolls in June from May, as regions across the country eased social distancing restrictions and allowed more businesses to reopen. The net additions in payrolls topped consensus expectations, and far exceeded ADP’s private payrolls data on Wednesday, which logged a gain of over 2.3 million jobs.

Although new unemployment insurance claims were higher than expectations, investors shrugged off the report in favor of the boom of workers returning to the labor force.

On Wednesday, Wall Street ended July’s first trading day and the third quarter on a positive note, as Pfizer’s (PFE) coronavirus vaccine candidate showing progress in a trial phase — and the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep the monetary spigots open “for years” — sent the Nasdaq Composite to a record close.

A broad rally in tech stocks carried Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) Tesla (TSLA) and Microsoft (MSFT) to new record highs, with those companies riding the momentum of business models that are mostly perceived as coronavirus-proof.

Still, record-breaking surges in coronavirus infections are overshadowing market psychology, and setting the tone for the start of the second half of a turbulent year.

New York City on Wednesday joined New Jersey in postponing plans to reopen indoor dining, with cases outside the Tri-state area skyrocketing. Meanwhile, a spike in California’s infections reportedly prompted the state to shutter indoor activities, including dining, to mitigate the spread.

And investor expectations are intricately tied to new surges in COVID-19 infections, which are walloping the Sun Belt states and prompting more regions to rethink reopening plans. That may put a definitive cap on a market that’s skyrocketed since plunging to multi-year lows in when lockdowns first began in March.

Markets will be closed Friday in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

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11:47 a.m. ET: SoftBank-backed Lemonade opens for trading at $50.06, rising above $29 IPO price

Lemonade (LMND), a home insurance company backed by venture capital firms including SoftBank, opened for trading on the New York Stock Exchange in its public debut at $50.06 a share on Thursday, leaping nearly 73% above its IPO price of $29.

Shares extended gains after the opening trade, rising to more than $52 per share.

The company sold 11 million shares in its initial public offering, raising $319 million.

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9:34 a.m. ET: Stocks open sharply higher after jobs data

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:34 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +44.07 points (+1.41%) to 3,159.93

• Dow (^DJI): +409.40 points (+1.59%) to 26,144.37

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +135.88 points (+1.34%) to 10,290.41

• Crude (CL=F): +$0.41 (+1.03%) to $40.23 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F): -$4.50 (-0.25%) to $1,775.40 per ounce

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): +1.9 bps to yield 0.701%

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8:31 a.m. ET: New weekly jobless claims come in worse than expected, but extend downward trend since early April

The Labor Department released its new report on weekly unemployment claims Thursday morning, concurrently with the June jobs report due to the Fourth of July holiday observed Friday.

Initial jobless claims totaled 1.427 million for the week ended June 27, coming in higher than the 1.35 million consensus economists expected. The level was down slightly from the previous week’s upwardly revised 1.482 million.

Continuing unemployment claims, representing those still receiving unemployment insurance benefits, totaled 19.29 million for the week ending June 20, ticking up from the 19.23 million during the prior week and exceeding consensus expectations.

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8:30 a.m. ET: June jobs crush expectations, sending futures higher