Dow Jones Soars 700 Points: Strong Jobs Report And Debt Ceiling Bill Drive Best Single-Day Gain Of The Year

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its strongest single-day performance of the year on Friday, surging 701 points on the back of an encouraging jobs report and the successful passage of a bill to raise the debt ceiling.

The S&P 500 rose by 1.5% on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a 1.1% uptick, marking its highest point since April 2022 within the trading day.

Investors responded positively to an agreement between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on a deal to temporarily suspend the U.S. borrowing limit until 2025. The debt ceiling deal passed both the House and the Senate just in time to avoid a government default.

The political success was complemented by stronger-than-expected jobs data. U.S. employers added 339,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, surpassing expectations of 190,000, with unemployment still at a historically low rate of 3.7%.

Chipmaker Nvidia NVDA crossed the $1-trillion market cap threshold on Tuesday, riding a wave that started the previous week, when the company's first-quarter earnings report positioned it as a leading provider of artificial intelligence infrastructure technology. 

Shares of electric vehicle maker Lucid Group LCID dropped by double digits on the week after the company announced a capital raise of $3 billion, including a stock offering and a $1.8-billion private placement from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Athleisure apparel company Lululemon LULU became one of the biggest movers of the week, rising over 15% after hours Thursday, after the retailer  posted first-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. The retailer’s sales growth of 24% year-over-year was led by the Chinese market.

What To Watch: Next week, investors should be ready to watch out for earnings of British plumbing and heating products distributor Ferguson FREG on Monday, supermarket giant Kroger KR on Tuesday, digital signing platform Docusign DOCU on Thursday and Chinese EV maker NIO NIO on Friday.