US STOCKS-Wall St gains as job growth accelerates, Nasdaq hits record high

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* U.S. job growth in June beats expectations
* Tesla jumps after Q2 deliveries beat
* Florida reports record rise in daily infections
* Indexes up: Dow 0.94%, S&P 0.95%, Nasdaq 1.08%

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By Uday Sampath Kumar and Devik Jain
July 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Thursday, with the
Nasdaq hitting an all-time high, after a record-setting increase
in monthly U.S. jobs pointed to a rebound in business activity
following the easing of coronavirus-led lockdowns.
The U.S. economy created 4.8 million jobs in June, the most
since the government began keeping records in 1939, but layoffs
remained elevated and market gains were capped by another spike
in new virus infections. Florida reported more than 10,000 new cases on Thursday, the
biggest one-day increase in the state since the pandemic
started, creating even more skepticism around a V-shaped
economic recovery. "A lot of people who are just looking at the economic data
and ignoring the COVID data are setting themselves up for a
problem," said Mike Zigmont, head of trading and research at
Harvest Volatility Management in New York.​​​​​​
"If you are respectful of the COVID risk, that doesn't
require a drastic market sell-off, but it requires you to pause
from hitting the buy button like crazy."
The jobs report comes at a time when there has been a flare
up in infections, which started in late June, and the
unemployment rate is at risk of remaining in double digits, as
several states pause reopenings and send workers back home.
Still, hopes of aggressive U.S. stimulus ushering a quick
economic rebound and the possibility of a vaccine have fueled a
Wall Street rally since April, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX
now just about 7% below its February record high.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also boosted on Thursday by a
1.5% rise in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT.O . The tech giant
was the most invested in stock globally on the eToro trading
platform in June.
Investors are now looking ahead to the quarterly earnings
season, which kicks off in mid July, for signs of the hit to
corporate America in the latter half of the year.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have plunged
43% in the second quarter, according to Refinitiv data, while
third-quarter profits are expected to tumble 25%.
"The market wants to hear the recovery story, they don't
want to hear about how much damage has happened," Zigmont said.
At 1:12 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 240.71 points, or 0.94%, at 25,975.68, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 29.61 points, or 0.95%, at 3,145.47. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 109.31 points, or 1.08%, at 10,263.94.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher, with
gains being led by energy stocks .SPNY .
Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped 7.3% after beating Wall Street
estimates for second-quarter vehicle deliveries. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.00-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.79-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 34 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 109 new highs and 8 new lows.