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U.S. stocks rose further to uncharted territory midday Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading above the 17,000 mark, boosted by stronger-than- expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for June.
The Dow pierced through the psychologically important level of 17,000 points for the first time immediately after the opening bell, while both the blue-chip index and the broader S&P 500 kept renewing their all-time intraday highs during the morning session and were on pace to end the holiday-shortened week at record highs.
U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in June, said the Labor Department Thursday. The fresh data was much higher than economists' expectations.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent in June, the department added.
The jobs gain in June reflected that "the labor market remains surprisingly and resiliently strong," said the Conference Board, a private research group based in New York, in a note Thursday. " This is not just catch up after a bad winter. It also reflects some gathering strength in the economy," it added.
Due to the fast improving labor market and firming inflation, J. P. Morgan economists are pulling forward their projection for the Federal Reserve's tightening.
Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at J.P. Morgan, said Thursday that they now see lift-off of the federal funds rate occurring in the third quarter of 2015 rather than the fourth quarter of 2015 and expect the funds rate at 1.0 percent for year- end 2015 and 2.5 percent for 2016.
The Labor Department also reported that the number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits slightly rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 in the week ending June 28, in line with market forecast.
Among other data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in May to 44. 4 billion U.S. dollars, down from a two-year high of 47 billion dollars in April, as exports increased and imports dipped, the Commerce Department said.
Wall Street was little affected by a report from the Institute for Supply Management which showed economic activity in the U.S. non-manufacturing sector expanded at a slightly slower pace in June, with the non-manufacturing index at 56 percent in June from 56.3 percent in May, trailing market consensus.
Moreover, the final Markit U.S. Services purchasing managers' index registered 61.0 in June, up from 58.1 in May, said financial data firm Markit.
By midday, the Dow jumped 87.40 points, or 0.51 percent, to 17, 063.64. The S&P 500 rose 9.06 point, or 0.46 percent, to 1,983.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 23.19 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,480.92.
