New York, June 5, 2026, 11:03 (EDT)
Dow slips as jobs data lifts yields The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded lower Friday morning, giving up some of Thursday’s big move. A stronger U.S. jobs reading sent bond yields higher, and investors kept away from stocks seen as sensitive to easy Fed policy. The Dow stood at 51,452.31, down 109.62 points, or 0.21%, at 10:33 a.m. EDT, after ranging between 51,357.52 and 51,660.40.
Jobs data is back in focus as the report unwound this session’s key trade: strong economic numbers are stoking fresh rate risk. Nonfarm payrolls, which is the headline U.S. jobs figure, climbed by 172,000 in May, with unemployment still at 4.3%, the Labor Department said.
The Dow slipped less than growth stocks on the day. The S&P 500 dropped 0.96% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.70%. Data is from Investing.com.
The split is partly due to how the Dow works. The index is price-weighted, so out of the 30 big U.S. blue-chip names, those with higher share prices have more impact than cheaper stocks, no matter the company’s market cap.
Treasury yields moved higher after the jobs report. The 10-year yield was up at 4.54%, compared with 4.47% before. Traders boosted bets the Fed might hike rates by the end of the year, AP said. Higher yields can weigh on equities by cutting into the value of future earnings.
The reported jobs number beat the 85,000 increase forecast in a Reuters poll. After the data, money markets priced in a 98% chance of a 25-basis-point Fed hike before year-end, up from about 60% earlier. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede, said inflation is what’s holding the Fed back, not jobs. Peter Cardillo at Spartan Capital Securities called the payrolls number an “upside surprise.” Marc Chandler at Bannockburn Global Forex said the “bar to a Fed change is very high.” Gary Schlossberg at Wells Fargo Investment Institute said higher rates can “create a headwind” for stocks. Reuters
Chip stocks lagged. Nvidia slid 2.5%. Intel, Micron, AMD and Broadcom fell anywhere from 4.2% to 6.2%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped over 5%, according to Reuters. That pull weighed on the Nasdaq more than the Dow.
Cisco and IBM dragged on the Dow, pulling it down about 90 points out of a 160-point dip earlier, according to MarketWatch. Cisco slid 3.5%, while IBM was down 3.3%.
Selling wasn’t all there was. Six out of 11 S&P 500 sectors gained, consumer staples on top, as some investors shifted into defensive names. Lululemon lost 8% after trimming its annual profit outlook. Cooper Companies jumped 6.4% after topping quarterly forecasts.
Siebert Financial’s chief investment officer Mark Malek called the pullback “healthy” after the recent rally. He said the labor market is “firm, not booming,” and said a pause now doesn’t necessarily mean a deeper shift for the market. Reuters
But the risk is getting clearer. Yields could keep moving up, or stubborn energy inflation tied to the Middle East conflict could force investors to brace for a tighter Fed. That’s while stock valuations are still high. Fresh tension from stalled U.S.-Iran talks put markets on alert over the weekend.
Dow outperformed its tech-heavy peers for now. Reuters said the index was heading for a third straight weekly gain. If current losses stick, the S&P 500 is set for its first weekly drop since April.
