JS&P 500 Hits Record As Jobs Shock Sinks Rate-Hike Bets: Stock Market Today

The S&P 500 cleared 7,755 and Wall Street is on course for its best week since April.

The rally comes on the heels of a contraction in July payrolls.

The U.S. economy unexpectedly shed 23,000 jobs in July against forecasts of an 80,000 gain, while May and June payrolls were revised down by a combined 103,000.

Average hourly earnings rose just 0.1% on the month and 3.2% on the year, both below consensus.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%, but for the wrong reason: the labor force shrank by 264,000 and the participation rate slid to 61.4%, the lowest since early 2021.

Odds of a Fed rate hike in September collapsed to 42% from 58% on Thursday, while pricing for cumulative increases by December fell to 28 basis points from 32 basis points.

The news sent U.S. equities to fresh records by midday Friday: The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 7,755.49, a record high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a 0.1% gain, advancing 77 points to 53,962.40.

The Nasdaq 100 outperformed with a 0.9% advance to 29,646.22.

The Russell 2000 matched the Nasdaq with a 0.9% gain to 3,029.46.

Gold was the standout in commodities, surging 2.5% to $4,347.70 an ounce, its highest in seven weeks and on track for its best week in seven months with a 7.5% gain.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices Index Last % Change S&P 500 7,755.49 +0.6% Dow Jones 53,962.40 +0.1% Nasdaq 100 29,646.22 +0.9% Russell 2000 3,029.46 +0.9% Updated by 12:30 PM ET According to the Pro platform: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO ) gained 0.6%.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA ) edged up 0.2%.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ ) climbed 1.1%.

The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM ) rallied 1.0%.

Gold Miners Rip, Software Soars As Rate-Hike Bets Melt Away The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLY ) led all 11 S&P 500 sectors with a 1.8% gain, followed by the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLK ) at 1.3% and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLB ) at 1.2%.

The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU ) added 1.0% and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLRE ) rose 0.7% as yields fell.

Only three sectors were lower.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLF ) fell 0.4%, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE ) slipped 0.4% and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLP ) eased 0.2%.

Industry-level moves were far more violent.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX ) soared 7.2%, extending its month-to-date gain to 21.5%, while the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (NYSE: XME ) climbed 4.4%.

The Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE: TAN ) rose 3.3% and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS: IGV ) advanced 2.9% on the back of blowout software earnings.

On the other side, the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (NYSE: KIE ) fell 0.6%, the U.S.

Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS ) lost 0.5% and the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE: KRE ) slipped 0.1%.

Software: The Epicenter of the Session’s Biggest Moves Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAM ) rocketed 30.8% after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $1.77 billion, 6.3% above consensus, and earnings of $1.87 per share, a 47.2% beat.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO ) surged 30.6% on second-quarter revenue of $1.5 billion, a 5.0% beat, and EPS of $1.47 that topped estimates by 24.6%.

Doximity Inc. (NYSE: DOCS ) was the single best performer in the Russell 1000, jumping 33.3% after posting revenue of $156.62 million and EPS of $0.29, beating consensus by 3.3% and 7.4% respectively.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET ) added 7.9% on a 4.5% revenue beat and a 38.1% earnings beat.

In healthcare, Natera Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA ) climbed 18.4% after lifting full-year revenue guidance by roughly $100 million at the midpoint to $2.85 billion-$2.91 billion, processing a record 1,044,000 tests and growing clinical MRD volumes 56% year-on-year.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO ) rose 16.9% on 47.7% revenue growth to $481 million and a raised 2026 outlook of $1.835 billion-$1.91 billion.

Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR ) rallied 16.4% in a sixth straight advance — this one is not an earnings story, since the optics maker does not report until Aug.

12.

The move comes after reports of potential U.S. restrictions on Chinese data-center components, which could benefit domestic optical networking suppliers, along with JPMorgan raising its price target to $435 from $380 while maintaining an Overweight rating.

Peer Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI ) gained 11.6% after its own earnings beat.

A Dramatic Downside The Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD ) cratered 21%, the worst performer in the index, after second-quarter revenue of $715.06 million missed by 4.9% and EPS of 34 cents came in 8.1% below consensus.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST ) tumbled 12.9% after narrowing fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.56 billion-$1.57 billion and flagging a preliminary fiscal 2027 outlook that is broadly flat, with management pointing to continued volume softness in certain categories.

Arrow Electronics Inc. (NYSE: ARW ) slid 10.0% even after second-quarter revenue of $10 billion, up 32% year-on-year, and adjusted EPS of $5.45 both landed above the high end of company guidance, with a cautious forward outlook overshadowing the beat.