Stocks climbed on Thursday ahead of Jobs Day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a record high.
Within the Nasdaq, Apple hit a record high after the company announced the launch event date for its newest smartphone. Also, Amazon was up by 1.4% and Tesla was up 0.9% in the late afternoon.
As for the S&P 500, the index posted its 10th straight positive month in August.
First up, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 21,948.10, +55.67, (+0.25%) S&P 500: 2,471.65, +14.06, (+0.57%) Nasdaq: 6,428.66, +60.35, (+0.95%)
1. Friday is packed with economic news. Headlining these will be the latest jobs report. Economists forecast that the economy added 180,000 jobs and the unemployment rate came in at 4.3%. The level of strong hiring can continue as long as the economic recovery is sustained and businesses don’t see any reason to lay off workers. But economists don’t expect the pace of job creation to be sustained at 200,000 or more every month, since the unemployment rate is at a 16-year low.
2. Gas prices are spiking after the biggest US refinery shuts down. Gas futures for September delivery were up 12% to $2.11 a gallon at 10:40 a.m. ET. In their eighth straight day of gains, futures are on their longest rising streak in four years.
3. A group of Democratic and Republican governors just released a plan to fix Obamacare. A letter from two Republican governors - John Kasich of Ohio and Brian Sandoval of Nevada - five Democrats, and one independent urged congressional leaders to do everything in their power to help the people on the law's individual insurance exchanges and to stabilize the program.
4. The loonie jumped after Canada's GDP surprised on the upside. In the second quarter, the Canadian economy grew at an annualized 4.5% quarter-over-quarter rate, according to Statistics Canada. That was ahead of both economists' and the Bank of Canada's forecasts. The Canadian dollar was up by 0.9% against the US dollar in the afternoon.
5. An ETF is launching that tracks GOP interests - and its ticker is MAGA. The investment manager Point Bridge Capital is launching an ETF that will enable direct investment in companies that hold Republican interests in mind.
6. Bitcoin spikes to a record high above $4,700. Thursday's advance caps off a big month for bitcoin, which has rallied 63.5% since the August 1 fork that split it in two.
ADDITIONALLY:
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