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Market Recap
WEEK OF JUN. 2 THROUGH JUN. 6, 2025
The S&P 500 index rose 1.5% last week as May payrolls came in on Friday above expectations. The S&P 500 ended the week at 6,000.36, continuing the market benchmark's recent wave of positive momentum following a 6.2% jump in May that represented its largest monthly gain since November 2023. The S&P 500 is now up 2% for 2025.
The May employment report gave the index a boost as it showed US nonfarm payrolls rose by 139,000, above the 126,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. April and March payrolls, however, had a net downward revision of 95,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in May, as expected.
The better-than-forecast May figure helped provide a bit of a distraction from the latest turmoil in the White House, where President Donald Trump is publicly feuding with Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 15% this week amid the drama, weighing down the consumer discretionary sector, which slipped 0.6%.
Still, most sectors rose this week, led by a 3.2% climb in communication services and a 3% increase in technology. Other top gainers included energy, up 2.2%, and materials, up 1.4%.
Meta Platforms (META) led the advance in communication services, climbing 7.8% as the Facebook parent agreed to buy electricity from Constellation Energy (CEG) in a 20-year agreement. Meta separately said it is looking to invest in new nuclear projects across multiple US states to support future data centers.
The technology sector's best performers included shares of Micron Technology (MU), which rose 15% amid price target increases from analysts at UBS and Mizuho ahead of the company's quarterly earnings report coming later this month. UBS cited an improved outlook and receding tariff risks.
Along with the decline in the consumer discretionary sector, consumer staples fell 1.6% and utilities shed slightly more than 1%.
Brown-Forman's (BF.A, BF.B) Class B shares had the largest percentage drop in consumer staples, falling 16% as the company reported lower-than-expected fiscal Q4 earnings and net sales. The "rough" quarter added to concerns about whether the company's challenges are structural or cyclical, RBC Capital Markets said in a note.
Earnings this week are expected from companies including Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE), GameStop (GME) and J.M. Smucker (SJM).
Economic data will include two closely watched inflation measures for May: the consumer price index and producer price index. A preliminary reading on June consumer sentiment will also be released.
