Dow jumps to record closing high after soft US jobs data, Nasdaq down with chip shares

The Dow rose more than ⁠1% ⁠to a record closing high on Thursday ⁠ahead of the long holiday weekend as a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report eased worries about ​interest rate hikes, while another sharp drop in chipmaker stocks weighed on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 ended flat on the day. The Dow recorded ‌a fourth straight week of gains, its ‌longest such streak since October 2024.

The U.S. market will be closed on Friday in observance of the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

The U.S. ⁠nonfarm payrolls report ⁠showed the economy added 57,000 jobs last month, far below economists’ estimates for a ​rise of 110,000. The unemployment rate was 4.2%, in line with expectations of 4.3%.

The employment report followed a run of strong job gains recently. Expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve decreased after the report, according to CME FedWatch. For the September meeting, hike expectations dimmed to 55% ​from 64.1%.

The jobs report “doesn’t mean the fear of inflation is over,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments ⁠in ⁠New York. “It just takes the pressure ⁠off the Fed to ​raise rates in the short term.” Investors have been worried about inflation especially given sharp gains in oil prices ​at the start of the Iran war. 

Apple ⁠shares rose 4.8% and helped to support all three major indexes. Nikkei Asia reported that Apple plans to launch five new iPhone models.

On the flip side, an index of semiconductors ended 5.4% lower on Thursday, falling sharply for a second day. Shares of Nvidia fell 1.4% while SanDisk dropped 14.1%.

Investors are likely taking profits in chip stocks following this year’s strong gains, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth ⁠Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The semiconductor index remains up about 78% for the year to date.

The Dow Jones ⁠Industrial Average rose 594.83 points, or 1.14%, to 52,900.07, the S&P 500 gained 0.01 points to 7,483.24 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 207.36 points, or 0.80%, to 25,832.67.

For the week, the Dow rose about 2%, the S&P 500 gained 1.8% and the Nasdaq advanced 2.1%. 

Tesla shares dropped 7.5% even though the electric carmaker posted second-quarter deliveries above estimates. Tesla shares had risen sharply this week ahead of the report.

Among other decliners in stocks, Bending Spoons dropped 11.3%, a day after the Vimeo owner gained 40% in its debut on the Nasdaq.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 318 new highs and 111 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,419 stocks rose ⁠and 2,548 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.05-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded no new highs and no new lows.