Finance

In the final full trading session before the holiday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new record high despite a broader sell-off in technology stocks. Investors reacted positively to June nonfarm payroll data, which showed the addition of only 57,000 jobs, significantly below the projected 110,000. This cooling in labor demand has led many market participants to believe the Federal Reserve will refrain from aggressive interest rate hikes in the near term.

The Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.8% as a significant downturn in semiconductor-equipment stocks pressured the tech-heavy index. Analysts pointed to a slowdown in wafer-fab-equipment orders as a primary driver for the slump, with notable companies like Axcelis and Vicor seeing double-digit percentage losses. This sectoral weakness offset broader market gains even as defensive stocks saw increased inflows.

Bitcoin climbed back above the $61,000 threshold today, marking a recovery from recent lows following the disappointing US jobs report. Ethereum showed even stronger momentum, gaining over 5% to trade near $1,700 as capital rotated into high-beta assets. The surge was further supported by a reversal in spot Bitcoin ETF flows, which saw over $221 million in net inflows after a prolonged period of exits.