NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2021) Wall Street's S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average indices extended their record high streak on Thursday after upbeat weekly US jobs data prompted investors to buy aggressively into blue chip and industrial stocks.
The S&P 500, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, hit an all-time high of 4,461 before settling just shy of that peak at 4,460, for a gain of 12 points or 0.3 percent on the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest US equity barometer on the New York Stock Exchange that lists mostly industrial stocks, also made a historic peak at 35,511 points. It finished the session at 35,500 for a gain of 15 points or 0.04 percent.
Big tech stocks lagged blue chips and industrials as they had since the start of the week as investors exhibit more caution toward them due to what has been cited as overvaluation concerns.
The Nasdaq Composite, which includes tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, closed up 51 points, or 0.4 percent, at 14,816. Unlike the S&P500 and Dow, Nasdaq has not hit a record high all week, peaking on Thursday at an intraday high of 14,824.
Stocks started the week on a sluggish note on worries that resilient jobs growth for July might prompt the Federal Reserve to pull the plug earlier than thought on its $120 billion of monthly stimulus to the economy and markets.
As the week progressed, caution turned into optimism, with investors throwing their lot behind the S&P500 and the Dow Jones, sending them to one record high after another. Friday's weekly update on jobless claims again suggested steady labor market recovery from the pandemic, prompting the flow of more investor Dollars into stocks.
