The U.S. labor market again surprised positively, helping the stock market bulls. The economy not only creates new jobs but also creates more than experts expected.
The U.S. labor market is stronger than we thought
On Friday we learned new U.S. labor market data. It turned out that in April about 115 thousand new jobs were created. It is surprising not only the number itself but also that economists predicted only about 60-70 thousand new jobs.
It is worth adding that the U.S. economy created a total of 300,000 jobs over two months. In March too, more jobs were created than forecasted. This highlights how strong the American market is.
The U.S. unemployment rate remains stable at 4.3%. This is already a result in line with expectations, so it did not worry investors and analysts.
Labor market data are important for the U.S. central bank, as a stable employment level could prompt the Fed to maintain interest rates at the current level.
It is worth adding that everything is happening while the war in the Middle East is still ongoing. Although a ceasefire is still in effect (there was another exchange of fire recently), the conflict has not ended and peace hangs in the balance. This continues to affect the market with negative factors such as rising energy prices. Added to this are threats from Donald Trump about another trade war he wants to declare against the European Union.
Read also: Donald Trump threatens Europe – wants to hit the automotive market. What is the American president betting on?
The market responds
How did the securities market react to all this? The S&P 500 index ended the session at its highest level in history. In practice this means a jump in market capitalization of 10 billion USD in 29 trading days.
Among others, Nvidia Corporation shares rose, closing the session at just over 215.2 USD, which is a jump of 1.75% for the whole session. The company can also boast a market cap of 5.23 billion USD.
Chart. Nvidia stock price
Source: TradingView
Against this backdrop, Microsoft performed much worse, with shares ending the session at just 415 USD, a drop of 1.34%. This is the result of reports that the hedge fund TCI reduced its position in the securities of Windows creators.
TCI's decision stems from concerns that artificial intelligence could threaten some of the company's key businesses. As stated in the letter to investors, the fund's holdings fell from 10% of the portfolio value (end of 2025) to just 1% (end of March). It is worth noting that this concerns an entity that had a large exposure to Microsoft for most of the last decade.
"We reduced investments in Microsoft because rapid progress in AI introduces uncertainty about Microsoft's competitive position in the future," the letter to investors explains the fund's decision.
Chart. Microsoft stock price
Source: TradingView
The S&P500 index ended the Friday session at 7,398.92 points, a jump of 0.84%.
Chart. S&P500 index price
Source: TradingView
The Nasdaq value rose to 29,234.99 points, an increase of as much as 2.35%.
Chart. Nasdaq index price
Source: TradingView
The Dow Jones index, at the very end of the session, was at 49,613.97. This translates into a symbolic increase of 0.02%.
Chart. Dow Jones index price
Source: TradingView
See also: Intel shares up 114%, Alphabet (Google) almost 34%. We finish a record month on the stock exchange, bulls are helped by U.S. congressmen
Source: BBC, Invezz
