Dow closes at record high as weak U.S. jobs report lifts rate hopes; Nasdaq falls on chip stock slide

U.S. markets ended mixed on Thursday before the long holiday weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 1% to a record closing level, while the S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged and the Nasdaq Composite declined as semiconductor stocks extended their recent losses.

Investor sentiment shifted after the latest U.S. employment report showed the economy added 57,000 nonfarm jobs in June, well below forecasts of 110,000. The unemployment rate came in at 4.2%, close to market expectations.

The weaker hiring data reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in the near term. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of a rate increase at the September meeting fell to 55%, down from 64.1% before the report.

Apple shares gained 4.8%, providing support to the major indexes after a Nikkei Asia report said the company plans to introduce five new iPhone models.

Technology shares faced pressure as the semiconductor index dropped 5.4% for a second straight session. Nvidia declined 1.4%, while SanDisk lost 14.1%. Market participants attributed the weakness to profit-taking after the sector's strong gains earlier this year.

For the session, the Dow advanced 594.83 points to 52,900.07. The S&P 500 ended at 7,483.24, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 207.36 points to 25,832.67.

On a weekly basis, the Dow gained about 2%, the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, and the Nasdaq added 2.1%.

Tesla shares fell 7.5% despite reporting second-quarter vehicle deliveries above analysts' estimates. Bending Spoons also declined 11.3%, following its strong debut rally a day earlier.

Trading volume across U.S. exchanges totaled 19.92 billion shares, below the average of the previous 20 trading sessions.