US stocks continued their upward trajectory during Thursday's early session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching a new all-time intraday high.
The market's advance was supported by a weaker-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls report for June, which led investors to believe the Federal Reserve may hold off on further interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones rose by 361.92 points, or 0.69%, to 52,667.16.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 198.21 points, or 0.76%, reaching 26,238.24.
The S&P 500 increased by 50.71 points, or 0.68%, to 7,533.94.
During the early session, the Dow Jones hit a peak of 52,802.97, marking a new record high.
US markets will be closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday, which is observed on July 4.
Since the holiday falls on a Saturday this year, the market closure was moved to Friday, July 3.
Due to this holiday, certain futures contracts on the CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange platforms will also conclude trading early.
The June nonfarm payrolls report, released a day early on Thursday, showed the economy added 57,000 jobs last month.
This figure fell short of the 115,000-job increase forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
However, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% from the previous month's 4.3%, which matched economist expectations.
In response to the data, the yield on the 2-year Treasury note declined, reflecting market expectations that the Federal Reserve may pause its rate-hiking cycle.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, speaking at the European Central Bank's Sintra Forum on Wednesday, stated the central bank is "charting a new course."
He indicated future monetary policy will be based on a new real-time data framework, moving away from reliance on official statistics that are often lagged and subject to revision.
Warsh envisions that within 9 to 12 months, new technology will allow the Fed to track economic activity in real time, enabling policy decisions based on more immediate and accurate data.
He has already established five working groups, with one dedicated to finding new data sources and methodologies; the membership list for this group is expected to be announced next week.
On inflation, Warsh struck a nuanced tone, clearly stating that "price levels are too high" and reaffirming the Fed's commitment to its 2% inflation target.
He noted that anyone expecting the Fed to be comfortable with inflation above 2% would be "disappointed."
Concurrently, he observed that inflation expectations and risks have moderated over the past four weeks.
Warsh also expressed a new perspective on assessing inflation, favoring the Dallas Fed's trimmed-mean measure, which shows a rate around 2.4%, significantly lower than the official CPI and PCE readings.
This suggests the Fed may incorporate a broader set of inflation indicators into its decision-making framework.
Furthermore, Warsh reiterated the Fed's policy independence and stated it would not provide forward guidance on interest rates, with decisions remaining strictly data-dependent.
Ahead of the jobs data release, major US indices closed lower on Wednesday as investors reduced positions in chipmakers.
Chip stocks provided support to index futures on Thursday, with shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: AMD) and Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) rising more than 2%, and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MU) gaining over 3%.
Despite the previous session's drag from the semiconductor sector, strategist Rob Anderson of Ned Davis Research views the rotation of funds out of chips as a healthy market development.
He noted that rotation is a hallmark of a bull market, a feature prominently displayed this year, and a shift to non-commodity cyclical sectors would further signal the market's strength heading into the second half of the year.
In Asian markets on Thursday, South Korea's KOSPI index led declines, closing down 7.89% at 7,648.09, its lowest close since June 8.
The junior Kosdaq index fell 6.74% to 866.72.
Heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX: 005930) dropped 9.06% to 286,000 won, while SK Hynix Inc (KRX: 000660) plunged 14.57% to 2,187,000 won.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 2.47% to 68,733.15, while the Topix index edged up 0.09% to 4,014.98.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was flat at 8,724.50.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.6% in early trading, reversing earlier losses.
Traders moved into defensive sectors like utilities, healthcare, and consumer staples, while technology stocks faced selling pressure.
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