Wall Street cheers uptick in layoffs as S&P 500 rises within 1% of its record high
The S&P 500 rose 26.41 points, or 0.5%, to 5,214.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 331.37, or 0.8%, to 39,387.76, and the Nasdaq composite added 43.51, or 0.3%, to 16,346.26.
A report showing a pickup in layoffs helped to support the market. The number of workers applying for unemployment benefits rose by more last week than economists expected, though it remains relatively low compared with history.
That could be a sign the economy can pull off a hoped-for balancing act of staying solid enough to avoid a bad recession, but not so strong that it puts upward pressure on inflation. Treasury yields erased earlier gains immediately after the report’s release, an indication of expectations for the Federal Reserve to deliver long-sought cuts to interest rates later this year.
Equinix jumped 11.5% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which runs data centers around the world, also said an independent investigation led by its board found no accounting inconsistencies or errors that would require financial restatements. Earlier, an investment firm had accused it of “major accounting manipulation.”
