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Stocks gained momentum as Thursday’s session continued with an afternoon boost lifting the S&P 500 solidly into the green as traders shook off weak private employment data earlier in the morning. A big jobs report looms over the market, with traders wanting a figure Friday that bolsters rate cut chances without causing a scare about a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 350.08 points to close Thursday at 45,621.29, restrained by a 5% fall in Salesforce shares on the heels of the software company posting a disappointing revenue outlook.
The S&P 500 index gained 53.82 points to end the session at 6,502.08.
The NASDAQ popped 209.97 points to 21,707.69.
Gap is looking to sell beauty products as a new line of revenue, the Wall Street Journal said in a Thursday report. Gap shares jumped $1.34, or 5.9%, to $23.93.
Amazon also helped lead the market higher with shares rising $9.69, or 4.3%, to $235.68, spurred by increased enthusiasm surrounding its relationship with Anthropic.
The ADP private payrolls report showed an increase of 54,000 in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected private employers to add 75,000 jobs. The figure is also less than the revised 106,000 in July.
The reaction was limited as investors reasoned that the recent ADP data was weak enough for the Federal Reserve to justify a September rate cut, but not soft enough to herald a recession.
Traders increased their bets that the central bank would cut on Sept. 17, with fed funds futures trading following ADP’s report now indicating a 97.6% chance of a rate cut. That’s up from 96.6% a day ago.
Jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 30 also increased to 237,000. That number came in above estimates and marked an 8,000 gain from the prior week, providing more evidence of slowing in the labor market.
Meanwhile, August’s ISM non-manufacturing PMI reading came in at 52.0, slightly better than the Dow Jones forecast for 50.8.
Those reports come ahead of Friday’s big jobs report, which is expected to post a 75,000 non-farm-payroll gain for last month, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
Traders are also turning their eyes to Washington for the latest on trade, after President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to quickly rule on an appeal that would overturn lower court decisions that deemed most tariffs illegal.
Prices for 10-year Treasury leaped Thursday, pushing down yields to 4.16% from Wednesday’s 4.22%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dwindled 65 cents to $63.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices flopped $28.90 at $3,605.60 U.S. an ounce.
