US Stocks-S&P closes at record high as soft jobs report eases rate-hike concerns

With earnings season entering the final stretch, of the 436 companies in the S&P 500 that have already reported results through Friday morning, 85.1% have topped analyst expectations, according to LSEG data — well above the 68% average since 1994.

Under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, the U.S. central bank has offered investors little forward guidance on monetary policy, leading market participants to focus on economic data and commentary from policymakers.

A strong earnings season has also tempered concerns about the massive spending by AI-related companies, sending each of the three major indexes to their biggest weekly percentage gains since mid-April.

"You probably have to lower rates to kind of stimulate job growth, but if you lower rates, you're going to also stimulate inflation. So you're kind of in a pickle at this point, and yet the market's just taken off because earnings have been stellar," said Tom Siomades, chief market economist at AE Wealth Management in Topeka, Kansas.