Finance

June's non-farm payrolls report showed significantly lower growth than anticipated, with only 57,000 new jobs added against an expected 115,000. This cooling of the labor market has led investors to scale back expectations for imminent interest rate hikes, with market probability for a July increase dropping to approximately 17%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh indicated that while price stability remains a priority, the central bank may adopt a more patient approach given softening inflation risks.

Bitcoin and Ethereum saw gains of 2.5% and 5.6% respectively today, as capital appears to be rotating out of previously high-performing AI-related assets. Bitcoin successfully reclaimed the $62,000 level following a challenging month of June, benefiting from the broader market shift away from volatile chipmaker stocks. This recovery coincides with a cooling phase for semiconductor ETFs, which have fallen significantly from their recent peaks.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and semiconductor indices experienced a notable sell-off this week, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropping over 5% in a single session. Investors are increasingly moving capital into more defensive or cyclical areas, such as healthcare and financials, as concerns grow over AI-infrastructure spending and high valuations. While tech stocks provided massive returns in the first half of 2026, the current market breadth is widening to include a larger majority of S&P 500 components.