Experts say there's reason to be more optimistic about the market, beyond the boost from a better-than-expected July jobs report.
Even with the hitting a new all-time intraday high of 2,182.34 on Friday, stocks still look attractive, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
"I think we're seeing an inflection point in the earnings cycle and this quarter, and we're going to see positive earnings growth. We'd have positive earnings growth, ex-energy. We have positive revenue for this quarter. Second half is going to be better than the first half," Hogan said during an interview on CNBC's "Power Lunch."
Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, agreed and said that positive earnings growth is even more likely if oil prices stay at current levels or move higher. On Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude settled 13 cents lower at $41.80 a barrel.
Despite the U.S. economy adding 255,000 jobs in July — well above economist expectations of 180,000 — Warne said on "Power Lunch" that Friday's job report doesn't guarantee that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. She contended that if economic data continue to be positive, there may be a rate hike, but it probably won't happen until the end of the year.
Ben Willis, managing director of Princeton Securities Group, told "Closing Bell" that he was actually hoping that the jobs report wouldn't be this strong, "so that the market could go through its natural correction" of being "overbought."
Wills said, however, that the "bull market is not over, that this market will continue to go higher, that the idea of natural rates rising is an indication of a healthy market and a reason why you should be buying equities."
He said that the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee may not have to raise rates as central banks outside of the U.S. cut their own benchmark rates. The Bank of England cut its interest rate for the first time in seven years on Thursday.
Bill Lee, head of North American economics at Citi, agreed and said Fed Chair Janet Yellen has been "going out of her way to not raise rates." She could say that "we're not sure whether this job growth is going translate into real growth," he argued.
Lee said that inflation is still the key metric that Yellen is watching and that "so far, there's no sign that real inflation is showing up." He predicted that the Fed chair will say that the FOMC still needs to see more data before raising interest rates.