The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) secured a new all-time high of $649.48 on Thursday while the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed about 1% below its record high.
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The labor market has remained resilient in light of President Trump’s volatile tariff strategy, with 229,000 Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits for the week ended August 23. That came in below the estimate for 230,000 and fell by 5,000 from the prior week. Additionally, continuing jobless claims were lower than the expected 1.966 million, falling by 7,000 to 1.954 million. Continuing jobless claims trail initial jobless claims by one week.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has remained range-bound between 4.0% and 4.2% since January, hinting that the effects of higher tariffs thus far haven’t harmed the labor market.
Gross domestic product (GDP) has also held up, with the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis forecasting 3.3% second-quarter growth, up from its initial estimate of 3.0%. Imports, which contributed to a 0.5% GDP decline in the first quarter and are subtracted from the calculation, fell during the second quarter while consumer spending rose by 1.6%. Consumer spending is the largest contributor to GDP with a roughly 70% share.
After Trump attempted to fire her last week for alleged mortgage fraud, Fed Governor Lisa Cook has now filed a lawsuit against him to keep her job. The lawsuit argues that Trump has no legal grounds or cause to fire Cook and that the action undermines the Federal Reserve Act. Cook’s alleged violation was brought to Trump’s attention by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, who accused her of marking two separate properties as primary residences.
On the housing front, home sales remain subdued as the housing market grapples with high prices and mortgages. While the 10-year fixed-rate mortgage is at 6.56%, a 10-month low, it still remains relatively high when compared with recent years. In July, pending home sales dropped by 0.4% month-over-month, higher than the estimate for a 0.1% decline.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.32% gain while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.58%.
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