Home Finance Tips Bonds Fall on Jobs Strength as Stocks Grind Higher: Markets Wrap

Bonds Fall on Jobs Strength as Stocks Grind Higher: Markets Wrap

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(Bloomberg) — Treasuries fell as jobless claims hit the lowest since April, underscoring labor-market strength that’s keeping the Federal Reserve on hold. Stocks hovered near record highs amid a deluge of corporate earnings.

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Bonds dropped for a second day, with 10-year yields rising two basis points to 4.40%. Traders slightly pared bets on Fed cuts, projecting less than two reductions this year. The S&P 500 edged higher, with Alphabet Inc. up and Tesla Inc. down after their results. As European policymakers tempered expectations of policy easing, German bunds slid. The dollar and the euro wavered.

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Applications for US unemployment benefits fell for a sixth straight week – the longest stretch of declines since 2022. The characterization of the labor market will be a key feature of next week’s Fed meeting.

To Bret Kenwell at eToro, while the labor market is not firing on all cylinders, it’s not showing signs of distress either. If next week’s jobs data give another reassuring nod to the labor market, he says investors may breathe a further sigh of relief.

“There are still few signs of major cracks in the labor market,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “And if that picture remains intact, the Fed has one less reason to cut interest rates.”

President Donald Trump will visit the Fed Thursday to tour the construction site he’s criticized for cost overruns amid his escalating attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates.

The S&P 500’s record-setting spree may be stoking concerns about inflated share prices and a revival of meme-stock froth, but JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s trading desk isn’t concerned. Rather, it expects the furious rally in US equities to keep going.

“While bullishness is not yet consensus, client conversations reveal that even those that skewed bearish are throwing in the towel,” the bank’s head of global market intelligence Andrew Tyler said Thursday in a note ahead of the market open.

Trading desks at firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citadel Securities are telling clients to buy cheap hedges against potential losses in US stocks as a slew of risks loom over the market’s record advance.

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