Stock Market News: What Conflicting Jobs Data Really Means for Markets
The stock market kept moving upward on Thursday morning, continuing to draw optimism from hopes that the economy will be able to overcome a second wave of coronavirus cases. Just before 11 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was up 159 points to 25,894. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained 24 points to 3,140, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) picked up 98 points to 10,252.
Many market participants pointed to today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the employment picture in the U.S. for June as evidence that things are getting better. Yet at the same time, we got a rare opportunity to see first-time claims for unemployment benefits on the same day as the monthly jobs numbers, and the two seem to tell very different stories. It might seem tough to reconcile the two different sets of numbers, but they do create a single picture that could guide investors in what they should do next with their portfolios.
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Source Fool.com
