Wall Street today: S&P 500, Nasdaq at record high on megacaps rally, yields drop

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose to record highs on Friday as megacaps hit all-time highs, after weak jobs data dragged Treasury yields lower.

At 12:14 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5.31 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 39,302.69, the S&P 500 was up 18.75 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 5,555.77, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 143.53 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 18,331.83.

In early trading, the S&P 500 was flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.2 per cent.

According to US labor department data, hiring declined in June as compared to May.

Additionally, it also said that the unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent and the hiring in earlier months was lower than it had previously indicated.

The latest jobs report follows a mass of data showing a slowdown in the US economy.

Shares of Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon.com and Apple surged between 1 per cent and 4 per cent.

Macy's stock climbed 10 per cent after a report said Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital raised their bid to buy the department store chain for about $6.9 billion.

Gold miner Newmont rose 1.9 per cent.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.30 per cent from 4.36 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices were steady on Friday.

Brent crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $87.51 a barrel by 1301 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 10 cents, or 0.1 per cent, at $83.98.

Bullion

Gold prices surged on Friday to their highest level in a month following US jobs data.

Spot gold was added 0.7 per cent at $2,371.58 per ounce as of 09:05 a.m. (1305 GMT). US gold futures gained 0.4 per cent to $2,379.70.