From Nasdaq:

Wall Street’s main indexes edged higher as strong job report tempered expectations of rapid interest rate cuts in the U.S. A Labor Department report showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in December and the unemployment rate held steady from November at 3.7%. Average earnings advanced 0.4% from November.

Money markets have now scaled back expectations for a rate cut in March to a 57% probability, down from nearly 65% prior to the release of the data. Tech heavyweights, including Amazon.com, Nvidia, and Alphabet, supported the indexes, offsetting disappointing ISM data regarding U.S. services activity in December, which fell significantly below expectations.

Major Wall Street indexes looked set to end their nine-week winning streak, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track for its worst performance since late October. The Nasdaq was on course for its worst week since late September due to rotation out of tech-heavy stocks into defensive sectors, including healthcare, financials, and utilities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.18% at 37,506.01, the S&P 500 was up 0.37% at 4,706.23, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.33% at 14,558.85. The financials and energy stocks led advances among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, while Applied Therapeutics tumbled 31.9% on disappointing results from a late-stage trial of its heart disease drug. Palantir Technologies also declined after Jefferies downgraded the data analytics firm.

The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 21 new highs and 42 new lows. On Friday, investors will focus on remarks by Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, a voting member this year. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.68-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and decliners outnumbered advancers for a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



Read more: US STOCKS-Wall St inches up on megacap boost, robust jobs data weighs