NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Big Tech stocks carried Wall Street to another record high, even as many stocks fell amid worries about the downside of a too-hot economy. Big gains for Meta Platforms and Amazon pushed the S&P 500 index up 1.1% Friday. They also vaulted the Nasdaq composite up by 1.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a more modest 0.3%, and more stocks fell overall on Wall Street than rose. A strong jobs report pushed traders to further delay expectations for when the Federal Reserve may deliver the cuts to interest rates they desire. Treasury yields rose in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Big Tech stocks are once again carrying Wall Street to a record Friday, even as the majority of stocks fall amid worries about the downside of a too-hot economy.
Big gains for Meta Platforms and Amazon, which are two of the market鈥檚 most influential stocks, pushed the S&P 500 index up 1.3% and have it on track to set another all-time high. They also vaulted the Nasdaq composite up by 1.9%, with less than an hour remaining in trading.
But the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, was up a more modest 0.6%, or 221 points. And the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks was down by 0.4%.
Stocks were feeling pressure from much higher yields in the bond market after a report showed last month than economists expected.
While the strength is a boon for workers and keeps the risk of a recession at bay, the worry is that it could keep upward pressure on inflation. That in turn would mean a longer wait for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates.
Hopes for such cuts, which can relax the pressure on the economy and goose investment prices, have been a major reason the U.S. stock market has surged to record heights. said earlier this week that it鈥檚 unlikely cuts will begin as soon as traders had been hoping.
鈥淭he Fed threw some cold water on the idea of a March rate cut less than 48 hours ago, and today鈥檚 surprisingly strong jobs report won鈥檛 dry things off,鈥� said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. "It鈥檚 definitely not the type of data the Fed had in mind when they said they wanted to see more evidence that inflationary pressures were under control.鈥�
The yield for the 10-year Treasury leaped immediately after the release of the jobs report and was up to 4.03% from 3.88% late Thursday.
Traders had already pushed out bets for the timing of the first Fed rate cut to May from March following Powell's warning earlier this week. After the jobs report, traders shifted some bets even further out the calendar to June, according to data from CME Group.
Besides the overall hiring number, the jobs report included several signals showing much more strength than expected. Average hourly earnings for workers rose more in January than forecast. The unemployment rate unexpectedly did not get worse. And the government said hiring was actually much stronger in December than it had earlier reported.
The question for the stock market will be whether the upside of such strength outweighs the downside. That is, will a stronger economy with plenty of people working make up for delayed or dashed hopes for quick and significant cuts to interest rates?
鈥淭he big payroll gains and wage gains aren鈥檛 something to be feared,鈥� said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. 鈥淭he Fed has stepped back from its insistence that the labor market needs to weaken before inflation sustainably falls.鈥�
He pointed to a report earlier this week that showed an increase in productivity for U.S. workers, which could help offset the effect of higher wages.
The jobs report landed on Wall Street amid a maelstrom of profit reports that could have helped move the market on their own.
, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, soared 20.8% after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected and said it would start paying a dividend to its investors.
rallied 8.1% after it likewise reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected.
They鈥檙e both members of a small group of Big Tech stocks known as the 鈥淢agnificent Seven鈥� that have been disproportionately responsible for Wall Street鈥檚 run to a record. Their huge gains have set expectations very high for their growth, which they need to meet to justify the big runs for their stock prices.
, another member of the Magnificent Seven, slipped 0.1% despite reporting better profit than expected.
Charter Communications slumped 16.7% for the sharpest loss in the S&P 500 after it reported weaker profit for the latest quarter than expected.
Cigna and Chevron both climbed after reporting stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than expected. Cigna jumped 5.6% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, while Chevron rose 3.2%.
In markets abroad, stocks tumbled 1.5% in Shanghai to cap their worst week in five years. Worries about a faltering economic recovery and troubles for the real estate industry have made the market one of the world鈥檚 worst recently.
The International Monetary Fund forecast the would grow at a 4.6% pace this year and 4% in 2025, dropping from 5.2% last year.
Stocks were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
Stan Choe, The Associated Press
