Stock Markets Rise on Jobs Data; Bonds Fall

Good morning!

The Dow (+1.2%), NASDAQ (+2.2%), and S&P 500 (+1.5%) all gained modestly for the week.  Conversely, taxable bonds were down 0.4% and tax-free municipal bonds were down 0.1%.  The 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.11% to finish the week at 4.50%.

Stocks traded in a narrow range last week until making a strong move upward on Friday, after the release of the May jobs report.  The day before, initial jobless claims rose for the 2nd week in a row, closing in on a level only reached twice in the last 3 years.  As for the May jobs report, employers added 139,000 jobs in May, exceeding expectations of 125,000, but less than April’s report of 147,000 jobs added.  The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%, but wage growth came in better than expected by ticking up to 3.9%.  The better-than-expected May jobs report helped to ease concerns that employment may be slowing.  The combination of these jobs reports likely pushes the Fed to keep interest rates the same for longer, rather than hiking or lowering them in the near term. 

I sound like a broken record when referencing that market movements seem to be based more on rumors than actual economic data.  Tariffs remain uncertain, and the “Big Beautiful Bill” remains in Congress with its fate being uncertain as well.  Then, a feud between the richest person in the world (Elon Musk) and arguably the most powerful person in the world (President Trump) are capturing the headlines lately, as these individuals seemingly disagree on multiple topics.  That feud caused a sharp drop in Tesla shares last week, too.  I choose not to opine on the subject, as I always wonder what the truth really is, because I do not know of any media outlet that isn’t biased in one way or another.  In short, I don’t know what to believe in Washington, and when all the political stuff has a greater impact on the markets than the underlying data, it frustrates me a little.  But I digress.

Have a great day and terrific week, and Happy Father’s Day to all it applies to.

^{Source:  Yahoo Finance}

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^{The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P500) is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries. The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all NASDAQ domestic and non-U.S. based common stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. The market value, the last sale price multiplied by total shares outstanding, is calculated throughout the trading day, and is related to the total value of the Index. Government bonds and Treasury bills are guaranteed by the US government as to the timely payment of principal and interest and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value.}