4:15pm: Another record day for the Dow
US stocks finished the holiday-shortened week mixed, with the Dow Jones adding 1% to finish at a new record high 52,845 points. The Nasdaq was down 0.8% at 25,832 points, and the S&P 500 was down 0.1% at 7,476 points.
Markets are closed on Friday in observance of Independence Day.
3:30pm: Proactive news headlines
- Trust Stamp has filed a US provisional patent application for an artificial intelligence-based medical diagnostic support system aimed at helping physicians evaluate diagnoses while addressing common limitations of large language models (LLMs).
- Delivra Health Brands has launched its LivRelief Itch Relief Cream in the Canadian market, expanding its portfolio of over-the-counter health and wellness products.
- Standard Uranium closed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement, raising gross proceeds of C$889,700 to fund exploration and working capital.
- Sintana Energy said it expects a busy second half of 2026 after reporting “multiple tangible achievements” across its Atlantic Margin oil and gas portfolio in the first half of the year.
2:30pm: Market movers
- Rivian Automotive shares rose about 8% following the company’s second-quarter production and delivery update and an upward revision to its full-year outlook.
- Robinhood Markets shares rose about 4% on Wednesday following the launch of Robinhood Chain, a new Ethereum-based layer-2 blockchain built using Arbitrum’s Orbit technology and designed to support tokenized assets and onchain financial products.
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) reported a 10.3% year-over-year decline in US second-quarter sales on Thursday, as supply constraints affecting its F-Series pickup trucks and a sharp drop in electric vehicle demand weighed on results.
- Tesla reported second quarter vehicle deliveries of 480,126 and production of 451,758, surpassing Wall Street expectations as the electric vehicle maker seeks to reverse recent sales declines.
12:30pm: Stocks mixed
US stocks diverged on Thursday following the release of a weaker-than-expected payrolls report.
As the Dow Jones powered to new highs, up 0.7% at 52,648, the Nasdaq was down 1.1% at 25,760 points and the S&P 500 was down 0.4% at 7,456 points.
“[Federal Reserve chair] Kevin Warsh’s hawkish talk has caught the market on the hop, and so any sign that the Fed may not have to rush to increase borrowing costs naturally spells good news for equities around the globe,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
“The Dow has reached a record high too, but pricey tech stocks continue their disappointing start to Q3.”
11:37am: Tesla Q2 deliveries top expectations
Tesla reported second quarter vehicle deliveries of 480,126 and production of 451,758, surpassing Wall Street expectations as the electric vehicle maker seeks to reverse recent sales declines.
The company delivered 467,762 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles during the quarter, while deliveries of its other models totaled 12,364. Tesla produced 442,936 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and 8,822 vehicles across its other models.
Analysts had expected deliveries of about 406,600 vehicles, according to a StreetAccount consensus, while Tesla's company-compiled consensus forecast 406,024 deliveries.
10:01am: Dow hits new high at open
The US jobs report miss has been followed by a positive start for stocks in New York, with the Dow Jones striding almost 500 points or 0.9% higher to 52,795, setting a new intraday record.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have both climbed 0.7%.
Top of the Dow leaderboard is Nike, rebounding from yesterday's earnings-inspired drop.
Then come Boeing, Visa, Chevron, Apple and Amazon, all up over 1%.
Leading the S&P risers are fintech and crypto-related names, with Robinhood and Coinbase jumping, helped by a rebound in the bitcoin price. Robinhood also was boosted by a target price upgrade from Mizuho.
AI and technology stocks were also back in favour, with Palantir, Adobe and Super Micro Computer among the leading risers, while defence contractors Leidos and Northrop Grumman gained.
Google parent Alphabet dropped almost 1% after losing a $4.7 billion European antitrust case, but has now turned positive.
9:10am: Stock futures jump after jobs report
Wall Street futures have climbed higher ahead of the opening bell, thanks to the boost from today's payrolls report.
Dow futures are up 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are indicating a rise of around 0.3%.
Market analyst Fazad Razakzada at Capital.com says: "The stock market liked the data and the dollar hated it because it effectively rules out the chances of a July rate hike from the Fed – not that this was going to happen anyway with oil prices falling."
But then he asks if the NFP was "enough" of a disappointment to completely rule out rate hikes later this year?
"Absolutely not. One month’s worth of data will never be enough. The Fed’s focus is on inflation, meaning the jobs data should taken with a pinch of salt for any dollar bears out there.
"Still, with oil prices going further below the pre-war levels, risk appetite should remain firm – barring further selling in the AI and chipmaker sectors."
Now that the US jobs data has come in much softer, he says it also gives Japanese authorities "even more reason to use the opportunity to sell more of its dollar reserves to help lower the USD/JPY exchange rate. This is especially the case given the US holiday on Friday when liquidity conditions will be a lot thinner, amplifying the impact of any intervention."
Looking ahead, he says the US public holiday on Friday "means the bulk of the post NFP moves may well happen today".
8:38pm: NFP jobs misses
The June non-farm payrolls has come in below forecast, with just 57K new jobs added, compared to the 115K expected.
What's more, previous months were revised lower too, with revisions shaving a further 74,000 jobs off the previous two months, leaving a combined shortfall of around 130,000 jobs versus expectations.
There was a drop in unemployment to 4.2% from 4.3%, but this looked less encouraging at second glance after the labour force participation rate fell sharply to 61.5% from 61.8%, suggesting fewer people were looking for work rather than a genuine strengthening in the jobs market.
US futures have picked up, with all three major indices now expected to open higher, as it essentially rules out the chances of a July rate hike from the Fed.
8:01am: Futures mixed ahead of non-farms
US stock futures were mixed ahead of the final trading session before the Independence Day long weekend, with the key non-farm payrolls report brought forward to Thursday.
Dow Jones futures up 0.2%, the S&P 500 little changed and Nasdaq futures down 0.3% as investors weighed the outlook for interest rates and the AI trade.
The caution followed a weak session on Wall Street overnight, when the Nasdaq fell 0.7% to 26,040.03 as semiconductor and AI-related stocks came under renewed pressure.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,483.23, while the Dow ended little changed, down 0.03% at 52,305.24 after hitting a record intraday high just above 52,742.
The latest wobble in the AI trade was led by Caterpillar, which plunged 7% after investor Michael Burry disclosed a bearish position in the stock. The move wiped 437 points off the Dow and rippled across the broader AI ecosystem.
Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth said Caterpillar has become "one of Wall Street's newest AI beneficiaries", with investors betting on its exposure to data centre construction, power generation and grid expansion. But at 37 times forward earnings, against an industry average closer to 15 times, he said the shares had become "a bit extended" and were vulnerable to profit-taking.
The sell-off in chipmakers rippled into Asia, with South Korea's Kospi tumbling 8%.
Oil prices also eased, with WTI crude down more than 2% to just above $67 a barrel, its lowest level since late February, after Qatar reported progress on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Investors also took comfort from softer inflation signals, with yesterday's ISM prices paid index falling below forecasts.
This pointed to easing cost pressures for manufacturers ahead of today's June non-farm payrolls report, due at 8.30am Eastern time.
The Street consensus is for the US economy to have added 110,000 jobs last month, down from 172,000 in May, while the unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 4.3%.
"The jobs data will help guide market pricing for US rates in light of the newly hawkish FOMC," said market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo.
He argued that "the regime shift to a more forceful and proactive Fed has only just begun", with Treasury yields climbing in recent days after Fed chair Kevin Warsh reiterated his commitment to restoring price stability and promised "a good family fight" at this month's policy meeting.
The dollar weakened overnight, with the DXY index falling back below 101 after touching 101.30 on Wednesday.
Analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation said traders were taking profits after the greenback's recent rally, with the Japanese yen the biggest beneficiary amid speculation Tokyo could intervene in currency markets during the US holiday.
Morrison said traders may also be positioning ahead of payrolls, with a strong jobs report likely to revive dollar buying by reinforcing expectations of further Federal Reserve rate increases, while a weaker reading could offer some relief to the yen.
