Finance

The Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved a record closing high of 52,900.27 just before the holiday weekend, marking a 2% gain for the week. This performance came despite significant pressure on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which was weighed down by a sharp sell-off in semiconductor stocks like Micron and Nvidia. Investors have recently engaged in a rotation away from high-flying artificial intelligence names to secure profits after massive year-to-date rallies.

June non-farm payrolls significantly missed forecasts, rising by only 57,000 compared to the anticipated 113,000. This cooling of the labor market has led many traders to push their expectations for the next interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve further out toward the end of 2026. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh recently indicated that while inflation risks have abated, the central bank remains committed to reaching its 2% price stability goal without providing specific forward guidance.

Digital assets experienced a bullish trend during the holiday weekend, with Bitcoin and Ethereum seeing gains of roughly 2% as of July 4. This recovery followed a volatile first half of the year and was supported by the weaker-than-expected US jobs report, which improved investor appetite for riskier assets. Unlike traditional exchanges, crypto markets remained fully operational throughout the federal holiday period.