Payrolls Fell 23K Yet Stocks Hit a Record — Can Wednesday's CPI Keep It Up?
S&P 500 +0.62% to a record close Friday, Nasdaq +1.30%, Dow +0.28%. The catalyst was a jobs report bad in the right way: July payrolls fell 23,000, May and June were revised down a combined 103,000, and hourly earnings rose just 3.2% year-over-year. September hike odds slid to around 44%, and AI and semis took the valuation room. July CPI lands Wednesday, 20:30 Beijing — with warnings it could argue the other way. Weak jobs read bullish; does inflation get the same treatment?