Latest news with #A6.1
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Asia shares up, investors unfazed by Trump tariff moves
Asian stocks rose slightly on Thursday, riding on optimism from Nvidia's brief rise to a world-record $US4 trilllion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation and as investors largely shrugged off US President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvos. US copper futures widened their premium to the London benchmark overnight after Trump announced plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on copper. He later said on Wednesday the levies would come into effect on August 1. Trump also turned his trade ire against Brazil on Wednesday as he threatened a punitive 50 per cent tariff on exports to the US and issued tariff notices to seven minor trading partners. The latest moves did little to rattle markets, leaving MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2 per cent. The Nikkei fell 0.56 per cent, while China's CSI300 blue-chip index rose 0.2 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.1 per cent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures gained 0.18 per cent and FTSE futures advanced 0.33 per cent. Artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia on Wednesday became the world's first company to hit a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) market value, as it solidified its position as one of Wall Street's most favoured stocks. US stock futures eased slightly in Asia on Thursday, with Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both down about 0.2 per cent each, after both indexes closed higher in the cash session overnight. The market reaction to Trump's tariff developments this week has been much less severe than the post "Liberation Day" selloff in April, with Jeff Ng, SMBC's head of Asia macro strategy, saying investors have grown somewhat "numb" to the ever-changing situation. "They know that there is still room for negotiation. A lot of these announcements, they start off with eye-catching numbers, but they are not totally final, and they are still subject to changes. Even if they are implemented, they could also be reversed in the coming few months to year," he said. Also keeping stocks supported were expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year. Minutes released on Wednesday showed "most participants" at the Fed's meeting last month anticipated rate cuts would be appropriate later this year, with any price shock from tariffs expected to be "temporary or modest". "Right now, markets are not pricing in a high chance of a full-blown recession at this stage, given that the labour market continues to be quite resilient, but they know that there's a lot of pressure to push policy rates lower, so that could lower the opportunity cost of holding equities," Ng said. The dollar was on the back foot on Thursday, falling 0.4 per cent against the yen to 145.79 after a sharp rise earlier this week when Trump slapped Japan with 25 per cent tariffs. The euro was up 0.17 per cent to $US1.1742 ($A1.7961) and sterling gained 0.11 per cent to $US1.3605 ($A2.0811). An exception was the Brazilian real, which languished near a one-month low at 5.5826 per dollar owing to Trump's tariff threat on Latin America's largest economy. "Despite the S&P 500's impressive rally, the US dollar continues to retreat, underscoring a shifting global macro narrative," said Julia Wang, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. "We believe the greenback remains 5-15 per cent overvalued and expect continued weakness as cyclical convergence and capital reallocation trends play out." In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin hovered near a record high and was last at $US111,234.63 ($A170,148.54), while ether was up 1.3 per cent to $US2,775.54 ($A4,245.57). "We're seeing our clients take a more measured approach, making strategic allocations into cryptocurrencies with real utility instead of chasing short-term moves. Bitcoin remains the top pick on our platform," said Gracie Lin, OKX's Singapore CEO. Elsewhere, oil prices fell on Thursday, with Brent crude futures down 0.16 per cent to $US70.08 ($A107.20) per barrel, while US crude lost 0.22 per cent to $US68.23 ($A104.37) a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to $US3,322.69 ($A5,082.51) an ounce.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Wall Street gains, shaking off tariff concerns
Wall Street's main indexes have climbed higher, with Nvidia's valuation soaring, while investors shrugged off US President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvo. Nvidia rose 2.2 per cent to become the first company to ever hit $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) in market value, solidifying its position as one of Wall Street's most-favoured stocks to tap in the ongoing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. In early trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 286.20 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 44,526.96, the S&P 500 gained 39.70 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 6,265.22 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 195.72 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 20,614.19. Seven of 11 S&P sectors clocked gains, with the technology index leading the pack with a 1.2 per cent rise. Trump ramped up his trade offensive on Tuesday, announcing a 50 per cent tariff on copper and vowing to slap long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. This came just a day after he jolted 14 trading partners with a fresh wave of tariff warnings, and said that at least seven new notices would drop later in the day. The market's reaction to the latest salvo was in contrast with Monday's sell-off - triggered by the White House's new tariff threats against Japan and South Korea. With tariff deadlines now pushed to August 1, investors are pinning their hopes on negotiations to avert a full-blown trade war. "The tariff issue continues to be this sort of seesaw and because of that back-and-forth, it obviously has given investors a bit of a calm," said Philip Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth. "Markets will react if they see an impact of tariffs in second-quarter earnings next week. But if earnings continue to improve, that just gives them an even longer wait for the tariff negotiations to get finalised," said Ross Bramwell, investment strategist at Homrich Berg. Meanwhile, after last week's record closes for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq - buoyed by a surprisingly robust jobs report - investors are turning their attention to Thursday's initial jobless claims for the next pulse check on the labour market. Traders will also parse through the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, due at 2pm ET, for any hints about when policy makers might resume easing rates. While a July rate reduction is almost fully ruled out, the odds of a September cut stand at about 66 per cent, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Trump's erratic tariff actions have sparked concerns about global growth and inflation while also complicating the work of the Fed, which has adopted a wait-and-see approach on monetary policy. Among stocks, AES Corp rose 14.3 per cent after Bloomberg reported that the power provider was exploring options, including a sale. Health insurer UnitedHealth Group slipped 2.0 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Justice was investigating how the company deployed doctors and nurses to gather diagnoses that increased its Medicare payments. Shares of US advertising firms Interpublic and Omnicom fell more than 1.5 per cent each after peer WPP slashed its annual profit guidance. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.34-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 70 new highs and 12 new lows on the NYSE and by a 2.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 21 new lows.
Perth Now
06-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on jobs data
Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
West Australian
06-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on jobs data
Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
The Advertiser
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on jobs data
Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Wall Street has rallied to record highs after a surprisingly strong US jobs report cheered investors, who shrugged off dimming chances for a US interest rate cut this month. Chip-maker Nvidia also rose closer to a $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion) valuation on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, notching a third week of gains. The Dow closed up 0.77 per cent, near its own record. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.3 per cent, putting its market capitalisation at $US3.89 trillion ($A5.92 trillion). The company is close to overtaking Apple and becoming the world's most valuable company in history. Trading volume was light in a shorter session on the eve of Friday's US Independence Day holiday. "We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance; the stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York. "But there's some basis for it. I think there is some level of relief because the jobs report was not as weak as it could have been." The rally has been fueled by retail investors, who are largely ignoring the inflationary pressure on the horizon, uncertainty around tariffs and "are focused on the tangible, which is today's jobs report," she said. The S&P 500 gained 51.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.97 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.11 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 44,828.53. Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last month, 33 per cent more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1 per cent last month, a better result than the 4.3 per cent expected. Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in September at 68 per cent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down from 74 per cent a week ago. Republicans in the US House of Representatives advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome internal party divisions over its cost. The legislation is expected to add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.1 trillion) debt over the next decade, according to nonpartisan analysts. Large tax cuts and increased government spending can boost demand in the economy. This can add inflationary pressure, especially when the economy shows signs of strength such as the latest job report. "Some data points like the job report are positive and charming, but if we just take a step back, the picture is not that great," said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, which manages $US18 billion ($A27 billion) in Washington, D.C. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.72 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.62 per cent, and the Dow climbed 2.3 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 3.41 per cent. "It's kind of perplexing," Morris said. "This feels like that last bull rush before all of the data really comes together." Tripadvisor climbed 16.7 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than nine per cent stake in the online travel company. Datadog jumped 14.9 per cent after the cloud security firm was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500. When markets closed at the earlier time of 1pm (local time), trading volume on US exchanges was 10.85 billion shares, much lighter than the 17.82 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
