Stocks hit record highs after strong economic data

Traders
celebrate after the closing bell on the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 6,
2018.
Brendan
McDermid/Reuters

The Dow hit an all-time high Wednesday, and the S&P 500
flirted with a record close, as Wall Street eyed robust economic
data. US government bond yields surged, with the 10-year rising
to peaks not seen since July 2011. The dollar edged higher.

Here’s the scoreboard:

Dow
Jones industrial average: 26,827.07 +53.13 (0.20%)

S&P
500: 2,925.59 +2.16 (0.074%)

Nasdaq
Composite: 8,022.54 23.00 (0.29%)

1. Employment numbers in the US flew
   past expectations last month. Private
   payrolls notched their largest gain in seven months in
   September, an ADP employment report showed, with companies
   adding 230,000 jobs. The upbeat data comes a day after Amazon
   announced it would raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour,
   
   another sign of a tight labor market. 
2. Activity in the US services sector rose to the
   highest level on record. Boosted by increased
   spending leading up to the end of the fiscal year, the
   Institute for Supply Management said its nonmanufacturing
   activity index surged to 61.6 in September (A reading above 50
   indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates
   contraction).
3. Oil
   prices jumped to near four-year highs. As the
   US prepares to enact oil sanctions against Iran in November,
   some analysts think prices could hit $90 a barrel as global
   supply tightens. Crude had tumbled in earlier trading
   after the Energy Information Administration reported the
   
   largest buildup of US crude this year. 
4. Turkey’s inflation rate hit its highest point
   since President
   Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected 15 years ago.
   T
   he central bank 
   reported
    prices
   in the country rose 24.5% in September from a year earlier, as
   a currency crisis continues to unfold in the
   country. 

And a look at the upcoming economic calendar: 

• Employment data are out in the US and Canada.