# Wall Street muted on jobs growth as inflation, Delta fears weigh Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-08-06 Category: INVESTING Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/investing Meta Title: Wall Street Surges Despite Concerns Over Inflation and Delta Meta Description: Get the latest update on the positive jobs report that pushed some stocks and Treasuries higher on Wall Street, despite concerns about inflation, Fed stimulus, URL: https://financedigest.com/wall-street-muted-on-jobs-growth-as-inflation-delta-fears-weighhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2021-08-06t080844z1lynxmpeh750fvrtroptp4britain-finance-1736838046601-compressed.jpg) By Lawrence Delevingne BOSTON (Reuters) -A positive jobs report spurred Wall Street to push some stocks and Treasuries higher on Friday, but investor optimism was tempered by looming inflation, declining Federal Reserve stimulus and the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 jobs in July after rising 938,000 in June, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday, suggesting the economy maintained its strong momentum amid demand for workers in the labor-intensive services industry. Economists [polled by Reuters](https://www.financedigest.com/bank-of-england-to-raise-rates-by-50bps-again-to-tame-inflation-reuters-poll.html "Bank of England to raise rates by 50bps again to tame inflation: Reuters Poll") had forecast payrolls increasing by 870,000 jobs. It’s a number that’s hard to say anything but positive things about,” Sameer Samana, a market [strategist at Wells Fargo Investment](https://www.financedigest.com/invest-in-infrastructure-to-escape-the-starvation-cycle-warns-leading-nonprofit-sector-strategist.html "Invest In Infrastructure To Escape The ‘Starvation Cycle’, Warns Leading Nonprofit Sector Strategist") Institute in St. Louis, said in an interview. Especially with the Delta variant kind of perking up, it would be much more confidence-building for the [market to have a very strong](https://www.financedigest.com/tea-and-tea-based-beverages-market-to-observe-strong-development-by-2018-2028.html "Tea and Tea-Based Beverages Market to Observe Strong Development by 2018-2028") economy. Still, [stocks gains](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-mixed-dollar-gains-after-robust-inflation-jobs-data.html "Stocks mixed, dollar gains after robust inflation, jobs data") were muted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 110.29 points, or 0.31%, to 35,174.54, the S&P 500 gained 4.76 points, or 0.11%, to 4,433.86, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 44.28 points, or 0.3%, to 14,850.84. Peter Cardillo, an economist with Spartan Capital Securities in New York, said the [jobs number was “solid” but that it indicates “inflation](https://www.financedigest.com/bank-of-england-still-needs-to-see-the-job-through-on-inflation-pill.html "Bank of England still needs to ‘see the job through’ on inflation: Pill") has more staying power and is not necessarily temporary. [Treasury yields](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-street-drops-treasury-yields-gyrate-on-fed-chairman-powells-remarks.html "Wall Street drops, Treasury yields gyrate on Fed Chairman Powell’s remarks") extended their gains, having earlier been helped by the drop in jobless claims. Benchmark 10-year [Treasury yields](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-st-flutters-treasury-yields-ease-as-powell-resumes-testimony.html "Wall St flutters, Treasury yields ease as Powell resumes testimony") rose to 1.2835%, approaching a week high after their U.S. close at 1.217% on Thursday, and helping the dollar, which rose against the yen to a week high. The strength of hiring [calls into question the rally](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-rallies-to-73-on-tight-u-s-supplies-biden-xi-call.html "Oil rallies to on tight U.S. supplies, Biden-Xi call") in treasuries that took place over the last few months,” Mike Bell, a market strategist at J.P.Morgan [Asset Management](https://www.financedigest.com/asset-managers-on-alert-after-whatsapp-crackdown-on-banks.html "Asset managers on alert after ‘WhatsApp’ crackdown on banks"), said in an email. We expect this to be the start of a sustained move [higher in treasury yields](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-street-stocks-power-higher-as-treasury-yields-and-dollar-ease.html "Wall Street stocks power higher as Treasury yields and dollar ease") over the rest of the year. Oil prices declined again Friday, [set for their biggest weekly](https://www.financedigest.com/londons-ftse-100-edges-higher-set-for-fourth-weekly-gain.html "London’s FTSE 100 edges higher, set for fourth weekly gain") loss since October after falls earlier in the week triggered by rising COVID-19 cases and a surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles. \[O/R\] U.S. crude recently fell 0.56% to $68.70 per barrel and Brent was at $71.09, down 0.28% on the day. The [dollar crept higher](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-st-heads-higher-as-fed-rate-hopes-dent-dollar.html "Wall St heads higher as Fed rate hopes dent dollar") on Friday, lifted by the positive jobs report, which bolstered the case for faster U.S. policy tightening. The dollar index was last up about 0.512, or 0.555%, in midmorning trading. The stronger [dollar and potential for higher yields hurt gold](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-and-gold-cheer-u-s-inflation-picture-while-dollar-slides.html "Stocks and gold cheer U.S. inflation picture, while dollar slides"). Spot gold dropped 2.2% to $1,764.80 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures fell 2.37% to $1,762.30 an ounce. \[GOL/\] Ether, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, fell about 2% as of Friday morning, a day after a major software [upgrade to its underlying ethereum](https://www.financedigest.com/cryptoverse-ethereum-upgrade-to-unlock-33-billion.html "Cryptoverse: Ethereum upgrade to unlock billion") blockchain, which is expected to stabilize transaction fees and reduce supply of the token. (Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, Medha Singh and Stephen Culp; editing by Jonathan Oatis) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---