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US job growth beats expectations in June

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Tripadvisor ( TRIP ) gains on report Starboard Value built stake

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Synopsys, Cadence rise as US lifts China export curbs

(Updates to U.S. market close)

By Sabrina Valle

NEW YORK, July 3 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq

closed at record highs on Thursday after a

stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report, while Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares

spiked and its valuation neared $4 trillion.

Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut

in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in

September at 68%, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down

from 74% a week ago.

"We are seeing a real bout of irrational exuberance, the

stock market is very biased towards optimism," said Kristina

Hooper, Chief Market Strategist at Man Group in New York.

"But there's some basis for it. I think there is some

level of relief, because the jobs report was not what could have

been".

Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 344.11 points, or 0.77%, to 44,828.53, the S&P 500

rose 51.94 points, or 0.83%, to 6,279.36 and the Nasdaq

Composite rose 207.97 points, or 1.02%, to 20,601.10.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) market capitalization neared $4 trillion.

Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last

month, 33% more than the 110,000 jobs forecasted by economists

polled by Reuters. Unemployment fell to 4.1% last month, a

better result than the 4.3% expected.

The report was released a day early because of the

Independence Day holiday on Friday. Trading volumes were lighter

than usual on Thursday with markets due to close early, at 1

p.m. ET.

Separate data showed the number of Americans filing new

applications for jobless benefits fell to a six-week low last

week and U.S. services sector activity picked up in June as

orders rebounded but employment contracted for the third time

this year, underlining the impact of policy uncertainty on

businesses.

Meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives

advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending

bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome

internal party divisions over its cost.

The legislation is expected to add $3.4 trillion to the

nation's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according

to nonpartisan analysts.

TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) climbed after the Wall Street Journal

reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a more than

9% stake in the online travel company.

Datadog ( DDOG ) jumped after the cloud security firm was

set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500.