US stocks finished mostly lower on Friday after stronger‑than‑expected labor market data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve has more room to raise interest rates. The S&P 500 declined 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2%.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000, well above forecasts for a gain of slightly more than 50,000 jobs. The upside surprise in hiring pushed bond yields higher and weighed on credit‑sensitive sectors. Among major tech names, Alphabet slipped 1.1%, Microsoft lost 2%, Tesla dropped 5.9%, and Palantir retreated 4.5%. In financials, JPMorgan fell 0.9% and Visa declined 1%.
Semiconductor stocks, which had lagged earlier in the week, rebounded and helped support the Nasdaq. Nvidia advanced 0.8%, Micron climbed 6.1%, Intel gained 4.5%, and Marvell Technology jumped 7%, amid renewed optimism around OpenAI’s latest GPT model. Sandisk surged 11.9%, and AMD rose 4.7%.
For the week, the Dow slipped 0.3%, while the S&P 500 added 0.1% and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%. US equity markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
