HEALTHCARE, GOLD MINERS RALLY AS SOFTER JOBS DATA LIFTS STOCKS
Wall Street's main indexes are higher early on Thursday after a softer-than-expected employment report for June tempered expectations for interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Most S&P 500 CBOE:SPX sectors are in positive territory with healthcare SP:S5HLTH up around 1.5%, the leading gainer. Just consumer discretionary SP:S5COND and communication services SP:S5TELS are modestly red.
Under the surface, as expectations for rate hikes come down, gold/silver miners (.XAU), with a more than 3% gain, are an early outperformer. The Nasdaq Biotech Index NASDAQ:NBI, up more than 2%, is also showing strength.
Among indexes on track for record closing highs are the Dow DJ:DJI, S&P 500 healthcare, the small-cap Russell 2000 TVC:RUT and the Nasdaq Biotech Index.
Here is a snapshot of where markets stood at 10:04 a.m. ET.