US stocks rally on strong jobs data

“I am maintaining a cautious outlook for the next couple of months”, said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in NY, citing Brexit, uncertainty about rate hikes and the November U.S. presidential election. “We’re so close, odds are pretty good we’ll see it Monday or Tuesday”.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI closed 250.86 points, or 1.4 percent, higher at 18,146.74; the S&P 500 .SPX gained 32 points, or 1.53 percent, to 2,129.9 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 79.95 points, or 1.64 percent, to 4,956.76.

USA job creation shifted into higher gear in June, as employers added 287,000 workers to payrolls, the Labor Department said in its latest nonfarm payrolls report.

“Fed officials will want to see evidence of a more sustained recovery in employment growth over July and August as well, but this nonetheless supports our view that the next hike could still be in September”, Hunter said.

Oil prices fell 5 percent to two-month lows on Thursday after the USA government reported a weekly crude draw within analysts’ forecasts that disappointed market bulls expecting larger declines.Brent crude futures hit a two-month low of $46.15 per barrel on Thursday and last traded at $46.88. Sales at those stores are considered an important measure of retailers’ results, and Thomson Reuters said it was the first improvement in that gauge for Gap in more than a year. That was far more than analysts expected.

Stocks are trading at their highest prices in just under a year, but investors remained cautious.

The large-cap index is approaching all-time highs, having gained more than 1% over the June 23 close of 2,112.95.

The 10-year Treasury note rose 8/32 in price to yield 1.361 per cent. “The fact that the market’s been able to hang in there with bond prices continuing to go higher and with crude continuing to go lower is actually pretty incredible”.

Drug developer Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) said it halted a mid-stage study on a potential leukemia treatment following the deaths of two patients. USA services industry activity hit a seven-month high in June as new orders surged and companies hired more workers, suggesting the economy regained speed in the second quarter. Aluminum producer Alcoa and machinery maker Caterpillar both climbed, along with aerospace company Boeing (BA).

Substantial strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

The market may be looking ahead to the Federal Reserve meeting this month, leaving observers to wonder if it’s time for the central bankers to raise interest rates.

The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 21 new lows.

Energy prices were slightly higher.

Juno Therapeutics, which specializes in cancer immunotherapies, plunged 31.9 per cent on news that the US Food and Drug Administration suspended a clinical trial of a leukemia treatment after two patient deaths last week.

Worldwide benchmark Brent crude rose 31 cents or 0.7% to settle at $46.71 a barrel.