US Stock Market

It probably feels a bit surreal right now: headlines about war, oil shocks and record‑low consumer confidence on one side, and on the other, your screen showing the Nasdaq hitting fresh all‑time highs. Today was another one of those “how is the market up?” days.

What moved the market

The spine of the day was a one‑two punch: a “good enough” jobs report and another blowout day for chip stocks.

The April jobs report showed 115,000 new jobs and unemployment steady at 4.3%. That’s better than economists expected, but not a blowout. Fed officials are calling the labor market “stable” and shifting their worry toward inflation instead of jobs. Bond yields barely moved and the VIX stayed low around 17, which tells you markets don’t see this report forcing the Fed to change course immediately.

Stocks loved that mix. The S&P 500 rose about 0.8%, the Nasdaq jumped about 1.7% and notched fresh records, and small caps joined in. Under the hood, though, the party was very specific: high‑risk, high‑growth names ripped; steady, defensive names sagged.

Technology was the clear driver. The tech sector ETF surged more than 3%, and big chip names went vertical: Micron, Intel and AMD all logged double‑digit gains, while Nvidia and Tesla added to an already huge six‑week run. High‑beta stocks beat low‑volatility stocks by a wide margin, and momentum strategies are near the top of their recent ranges.