US stocks closed higher on Monday 11 July, following an unexpectedly strong jobs report on 8 July. The S&P 500 finished at a record high and posted a new all-time intraday high as well.

The S&P 500 jumped 7.26 points, or 0.3%, to settle at 2,137.16 to surpass its previous record of 2,130.82 on 21 May 2015. The index hit a historic high of 2,143.19 during the session, MarketWatch reported. The technology and industrials sectors led gains, while utilities and telecoms weighed the index down.

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"I've been expecting a record close for a while," Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab, told CNBC. "It's a good thing because it cements this 7-year-old market, which is the second longest in history."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.19 points, or 0.4%, to close at 18,226.93. According to MarketWatch, the blue-chip gauge was led by a 1.5% bump in Boeing Co shares. Goldman Sachs and 3M also contributed to gains.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 31.88 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 4,988.64, its best close of the year. The tech-heavy index also broke above the psychologically key 5,000 level during intraday trading for the first time since 31 December.

"I think what we're seeing is the successful election for [Shinzo] Abe...is fueling the rally here," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial, said to CNBC. "Basically, it's a post-labour report rally helped by the elections in Japan."

Prime Minister Abe's coalition snatched a landslide victory in the upper house of Japan's parliament, CNBC noted. Abe had used the election as a type of referendum for his "Abenomics" strategy of "hyper-easy monetary policy, spending and reform". As the strategy appears to failing, the Japanese governments plans to create a post-election stimulus package that could surpass 10 trillion yen ($99b).

On 8 July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' job report revealed 287,000 jobs had been added to the US economy in June, far surpassing the expected 170,000. Despite the strong jobs report, the continued uncertainty over Brexit and low inflation is likely to prevent the Federal Reserve from enacting a rate hike anytime soon. Investors will now prepare themselves for a week filled with speeches from Federal Reserve officials.

The US dollar index traded about 0.25% higher, with the euro near $1.106 and the yen around 2% lower against the greenback. The pound sterling briefly rose following Andrea Leadsom's decision to withdraw from the prime minister's race. David Cameron announced he would be stepping down on Wednesday (13 July), clearing the way for Theresa May to become prime minister.

Overseas, European and Asian stocks rose. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 jumped more than 1.6% and in Asia, the Nikkei 225 climbed about 4%.

US oil futures dropped $0.65 (£0.50;€0.59), or 1.43%, to $44.76 (£34.45;€40.48) a barrel. Gold futures for August delivery fell $1.80 (£1.39;€1.63) to $1,356.60 (£1,044.22;€1,226.80) an ounce.