Stocks advanced this week and the major averages closed at record high levels despite data that showed wage growth and hiring missed forecasts in May. Additionally, a number of U.S. CEOs expressed their dissatisfaction with President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, with two high-profile ones citing the withdrawal as reason to quit the president's advisory councils.

MACRO NEWS: In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls grew by 138,000 in May, versus expectations for the addition of 182,000 jobs. That level of job additions was down from the downwardly revised 174,000 jobs added in April, which had previously been estimated at 211,000. The unemployment rate moved to 4.3% from the prior month's 4.4%. The U.S. trade deficit rose to $47.6B in April from $43.7B in March. The S&P Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index was up a seasonally adjusted 0.9% month over month, roughly in-line with the consensus forecast. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell 1.5 points to 117.9 in May, though that is still its third highest going back to June 2001. Markit's manufacturing PMI dipped to 52.7 in the final May reading versus April's 52.8. The ISM manufacturing index inched up 0.1 points to 54.9 in May, versus expectations for it to remain flat with last month. Construction spending dropped 1.4% in April, which was worse than the expected 0.5% increase.

The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book said that most Fed districts expanded at a modest or moderate pace from early April through late May. Consumer spending softened with many districts noting little or no change in non-auto retail sales, while auto sales were noted to have declined from last year's record highs in several districts.

In Europe, the Eurozone unemployment rate came in a bit lower than anticipated, falling to 9.3% in April to hit its post-crisis low. Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.4% in May, down from 1.9% in April, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat. The overall Eurozone manufacturing PMI for May came in at 57, inline with the flash reading.

In Asia, China's official manufacturing PMI was steady in May at 51.2 while the non-manufacturing PMI ticked up 0.5 points to 54.5. The China Caixin manufacturing PMI for May came in at 49.6, down from 50.3 in April, while Japan's manufacturing PMI rose to 53.1 from 52 in the prior month.

COMPANY NEWS: U.S. president Donald Trump confirmed the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate accord on Thursday. Trump said the U.S. will begin negotiations to re-enter the accord or strike a new deal, saying, "We will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great. And if we can't, that's fine." Following Trump's announcement, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he is "departing presidential councils," while Disney (DIS) CEO Robert Iger said that "as a matter of principle" he has also resigned from the president's council over the Paris agreement withdrawal. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, who said he "absolutely" disagrees with the decision to withdraw, did not indicate if he would remain in White House councils but did voice he sees "a responsibility to engage our elected officials to work constructively and advocate for policies that improve people's lives and protect our environment." Other U.S. CEOs who said they were disappointed by, or disagreed with, the decision, include Apple's (AAPL) Tim Cook, Google's (GOOG) Sundar Pichai, Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg and General Electric's (GE) Jeff Immelt.

Shares of GM (GM), Ford (F), and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) all rose on Thursday after reporting on their U.S. sales in May.

The New York Post reported that Verizon (VZ) made a proposal valued at "well over" $100B, or between $350 and $400 a share, to acquire Charter Communications (CHTR), but the Liberty Media (LMCA) controlled cable giant rejected the bid for being too low. Verizon has also recently expressed interest in another Liberty property, Sirius XM (SIRI), though that interest didn't get as far as a bid, the report added.

OTHER M&A NEWS: Linde (LNEGY) announced that its executive board signed a legally binding business combination pact with Praxair (PX) governing the terms and conditions of a merger of equals between the two parties. Linde said it intends to apply for an admission for the trading of its shares on the NYSE and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and will seek inclusion in the S&P 500 and DAX 30 indices. Atwood Oceanics (ATW) rose 24% on Tuesday after the company entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ensco (ESV) will acquire Atwood in an all-stock transaction. Upon close, Ensco and Atwood shareholders will own approximately 69% and 31%, respectively, of the merged company. Xactly (XTLY) agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $564M, or $15.65 in cash per share. Deere (DE) advanced nearly 2% on Thursday after announcing an agreement to acquire the Wirtgen Group for EUR4.357B in an all-cash transaction.

EARNINGS: Among companies that announced quarterly results this week, Ciena (CIEN), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and J. Jill (JILL) advanced immediately following their reports, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Semtech (SMTC), Michael Kors (KORS) and Express (EXPR) declined.

INDEXES: For the holiday-shortened four-day week, the Dow gained about 0.6% to close at 21,206.29; the S&P 500 rose about 1% to close at 2,439.07; the Nasdaq advanced about 1.5% to close at 6,305.80.