Financial Markets                      07/02 15:26

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Most U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, and the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average rallied to another record, but more drops for computer chip 
companies and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom kept indexes 
mixed.

   The S&P 500 finished the day virtually unchanged and edged up by less than 
0.1%, even though seven out of every 10 stocks within the index rose. The Dow 
jumped 594 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8% after 
erasing an early gain.

   Stocks broadly got some help from a report showing that U.S. employers added 
57,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. That's growth, which is good for the 
economy, but it was also short of the 100,000 jobs that economists expected and 
a slowdown from May's hiring pace.

   The bright side of the weaker-than-expected result is that it could keep 
pressure off inflation, which has been accelerating worldwide because of jumps 
in oil prices caused by the war with Iran. And now that oil prices are back 
below where they were before the war, if inflation slows in upcoming months, 
the Federal Reserve may feel less need to raise interest rates several times 
this year.

   That would be a relief for investors, who tend to love lower interest rates 
because they can give the economy a boost by making it less expensive for U.S. 
households and businesses to borrow money and spend. Lower rates also tend to 
push upward on prices for stocks and other investments.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury got to 4.50% in the morning, up from 3.97% 
just before the war. But after the release of the U.S. hiring data, it 
immediately fell back to 4.46% before drifting to 4.48%.

   Traders now see an 82% chance that the Fed and its new chairman, Kevin 
Warsh, will not raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting later this 
month. That's up from the 71% chance seen a day earlier, according to data from 
CME Group.

   "The labor market isn't overheating," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic 
strategist at Annex Wealth Management. He said the data could allow the Fed to 
wait through the summer to get more clues about how inflation is behaving 
before having to decide on hiking rates.

   On Wall Street, the company behind LaCroix sparkling waters climbed 7.5% 
after National Beverage said it will pay a special dividend of $3.25 for each 
share that investors hold.

   Dollar Tree rose 2.4% after the retailer said it approved a program to send 
up to $2.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock.

   Stocks of companies in the crypto industry were also strong after the price 
of bitcoin rose roughly 2%, a day after dropping near its lowest level since 
2024. Robinhood Markets rose 3.8%, and Coinbase Global gained 3.9%.

   But more drops for computer chip companies weighed on indexes. They've come 
under pressure because of worries that their stock prices shot too high in the 
frenzy around AI and that all the spending on chips and data centers may not 
result in as much profit and productivity growth as hoped.

   Memory maker Micron Technology erased an early gain to drop 5.5%, a day 
after plunging 10.6%. Nvidia fell 1.4%, and Lam Research sank 10.2%. They were 
some of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 because they've grown so huge in 
size amid AI mania.

   Nvidia has a total value of nearly $4.7 trillion, for example, which means 
that its stock's movements have more weight on the S&P 500 than any other.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 0.01 to 7,483.24 points. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average rallied 594.83 to 52,900.07, and the Nasdaq composite sank 207.36 to 
25,382.67.

   In stock markets abroad, continued drops for chip companies sent indexes 
sharply lower in several Asian markets. South Korea's Kospi index sank 7.9% due 
to losses for companies like SK Hynix. That's its worst drop since a 10% plunge 
a little more than a week ago.

   Indexes also fell 2.5% in Tokyo and 2% in Shanghai.

   European indexes were stronger, and France's CAC 40 rallied 1.7%.

   In the oil market, prices dropped in the morning but pared their losses as 
the day progressed. Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $71.80 
per barrel, up 0.3%.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

   ---------

   itemid:21763c547c9aaaf13483625f90a751cd