Ticker: Wall Street’s record-setting rally keeps rolling; Europe is slapping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles — for now
U.S. stocks are rising toward more records Friday after a highly anticipated report on the job market bolstered Wall Street’s hopes that interest rates may soon get easier.
The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher and on track to set an all-time high for a third straight day following Thursday’s pause in trading for the Fourth of July holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging up by 14 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.8% to its own record.
The action was more decisive in the bond market, where Treasury yields sank following the nuanced U.S. jobs report. Employers hired more workers last month than economists expected, but the number was still a slowdown from May’s hiring. Plus, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher, and the U.S. government said hiring in earlier months was lower than it had previously indicated.
Europe is slapping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles — for now
The European Union is moving to sharply increase customs duties on electric vehicles made in China. EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission says unfair government subsidies for electric vehicles imported from China threaten European carmakers and jobs. The higher duties won’t actually be collected for four more months, given the two sides time for talks to potentially resolve the dispute.