US stocks rose on Thursday as investors assessed a June jobs report that tempered expectations for the next move in interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up roughly 0.5%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) nudged up 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.2% following Wednesday’s chip sector-led slide.
The spotlight is on the monthly jobs report after Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh urged Wall Street to look to data to help map out the path of interest rates, rather than looking to the central bank for forward guidance.
The nonfarm payrolls release fell short as the economy added 57,000 jobs in June, compared with the 113,000 expected. The unemployment rate came in at 4.2%, versus the 4.3% forecast. The cooler jobs reading broke a three-month hot streak, supporting the case for the Fed to continue to hold rates steady, but keep a hike in play for later in the year.
Elsewhere, pressure on techs lingered after a sell-off in South Korean chipmakers helped drive a 7.9% plunge for the Kospi (^KS11) stock benchmark. Shares in memory makers SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS, SSNLF), which each recently laid out massive AI investments, sank over 14% and 9%, respectively.
Markets are also weighing signs that US-Iran talks may be starting to emerge from another rough patch. Oil prices fell after mediator Qatar said this week’s discussions were positive, despite the lack of a breakthrough.