Wall Street ends higher as tech sector extends gains

US stock indices closed the second session of the week higher on the back of strong tech gains amid a solid second-quarter earnings season, with NASDAQ and S&P 500 closing near record highs. 

Iran Faces Economic Storm 

The US imposed new sanctions on Iran targeting its access to dollars, precious metals, and gold, with President Donald Trump describing them as “the most biting ever imposed”.

Trump warned the world by tweeting: “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!”

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called the new sanctions a “psychological warfare” aimed at propping up Republicans in the upcoming mid-term elections. 

 Stock Performance 

Dow Jones closed up 0.50%, or 126.73 points to 25,628.91, while Standard and Poor's 500 added 0.28%, or 8.05 points to 2,858.45. NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.31%, or 23.99 points to 7,883.66. 

Gold futures due in December rose 0.07% to $1,218.50 an ounce, while the dollar index slipped .17% to 95.20 against a basket of major rivals. 

US Labor Data 

An index tracking US job openings stayed the same in June at 6.64 million, missing expectations of 6.74 million. 

Last Friday saw the release of the US payrolls report, which showed the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% as expected from 4.0% in June, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% as expected, up from 0.1% in June. 

The economy added 157 thousand jobs last month, down from 248 thousand in June, and missing estimates of 191K.