Thu Jul 03 19:20:00 UTC 2025: **US Stocks Hit Fresh Records Despite Dampened Rate Cut Hopes**

**NEW YORK** – U.S. stock markets surged to new all-time highs on Thursday, propelled by a stronger-than-expected June jobs report. The robust employment figures, however, tempered investor expectations of an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed at record highs for the third time this week, rising approximately 0.8% and 1% respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw significant gains, climbing over 0.7% and closing in on its own record.

The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 147,000 jobs in June, surpassing economists’ forecasts of 106,000. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 4.1%, while May’s payroll figures were revised upwards. The strong jobs data led traders to significantly reduce bets on a July rate cut, with market expectations now pointing towards a potential move in September.

“The weakness in private payrolls, the participation rate, earnings, and sentiment surveys suggest that labor demand is deteriorating” says Brian Rose, senior US economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. “We therefore maintain our base case scenario of 100bps in rate cuts starting in September”

Investor sentiment was also boosted by positive developments on the trade front, including the U.S. lifting restrictions on chip design software exports to China. This move sent shares of Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems soaring.

In individual stock news, Microsoft and Nvidia could both hit $4 trillion in market value this summer, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes. Nvidia (NVDA) reached $3.92 trillion in market cap during intraday trading on Thursday, setting it on track to become the world’s most valuable company in history.Shares in the AI chipmaker were up over 2% at one point in the morning, trading at $160.98 apiece.

Meta (META) shares climbed 1.2%, leading the Magnificent Seven stocks higher alongside Amazon (AMZN).

The markets closed early on Thursday in observance of the Independence Day holiday and will remain closed on Friday. Trading will resume on Monday.

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