Nasdaq climbs to record after softer jobs data cools rate-hike expectations

U.S. stocks advanced Friday after weaker-than-expected jobs data further dampened expectations for a near-term Federal Reserve rate hike. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 29,000 last month, and figures for the prior two months were revised sharply lower; economists had estimated a 90,000 increase. The chance of a rate hike of at least 25 basis points at the Fed’s meeting later this month fell to 23.8%, from 24.4% in the prior session and 64.2% a week earlier.

The Dow rose 217.14 points, or 0.43%, to 51,143.70, the S&P 500 gained 53.99 points, or 0.70%, to 7,720.44, and the Nasdaq added 307.48 points, or 1.14%, to 27,179.15, reaching an intraday record. The Russell 2000 gained about 1% and was on track for its biggest daily gain in a month. Nvidia and Tesla were the biggest boosts to the S&P 500, while the consumer discretionary sector gained more than 1%.

Nike fell 4.5% after forecasting a surprise steep drop in annual revenue because of weakness in China, announcing job cuts and reshaping its global business divisions. Western Digital dropped about 10% and Seagate Technology fell about 11% after Toshiba reportedly planned to double hard-drive production capacity for AI data centers within fiscal 2027.