NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2026 — The S&P 500 fell 0.38% to 7,718.36 on Friday. The Dow lost 0.51% after unexpectedly strong U.S. hiring revived rate concerns.
The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.29%, yet the Nasdaq-100 tracking fund gained 0.18%. Semiconductor shares rose 3.52%, exposing a market leaning heavily on chip stocks.
S&P 500: Friday’s route to the close
Five-minute readings through .
Source: Yahoo Finance market data. The index close can receive routine subsequent adjustments.
Employers added 162,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported. Economists had expected 53,000, according to a survey cited by Axios. Unemployment held at 4.1%.
Wages rose 0.3% during the month and 3.1% from a year earlier. June and July payrolls were revised upward by a combined 55,000. Recent labor weakness suddenly looked less severe.
The same evidence complicated the Federal Reserve’s next decision. “Today’s jobs report does lean toward the Fed increasing rates,” U.S. Bank strategist Terry Sandven told the Associated Press. He added that an increase was not certain.
A divided closing tape
Closing data: S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq, Russell 2000 and SOXX.
Memory stocks carried the strongest bid. Sandisk Corporation NASDAQ:SNDK rose 11.90%. Micron Technology, Inc. NASDAQ:MU gained 6.10%, while Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. NASDAQ:AMD added 4.69%.
NVIDIA Corporation NASDAQ:NVDA finished only 0.84% higher. Even so, its weight helped the Invesco QQQ Trust NASDAQ:QQQ close up 0.18%. The broader Nasdaq Composite still fell.
Small companies also resisted the rate shock. The Russell 2000 gained 0.19%. Investors appeared to reward lower recession risk, even as borrowing costs remained a concern.
The 10-year Treasury yield reached 4.812% before settling near 4.784%. That was about two basis points above Thursday’s reference level. Higher discount rates usually weigh most heavily on long-duration growth shares.
Single-stock damage was far larger than the index moves. Lululemon Athletica Inc. NASDAQ:LULU, Fair Isaac Corporation NYSE:FICO and UiPath Inc. NYSE:PATH each lost more than 16%. Separate corporate catalysts drove those declines.
The data now facing the Fed
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS calendar and NYSE holiday calendar.
Monday’s Labor Day closure lengthens the repricing window. Producer prices arrive Thursday, followed by consumer inflation Friday. Both releases can change the rate case before the Fed meeting.
Risks: Friday’s chip rally was concentrated and followed a volatile week. Inflation could confirm the bond market’s warning, while weaker data may revive growth fears. After-hours trading can also alter individual stock moves.
The closing message was unusually narrow. Better jobs supported economically sensitive shares, while chip demand protected the largest technology names. The rest of the market still paid for higher-rate uncertainty.
