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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after the better-than-expected delayed January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.
The 30-stock index poked up 19.23 points, to 50,207.87
The S&P 500 regained 14.15 points to 6,955.96.
The NASDAQ let go of 13.03 points to 23,098.44.
Software stocks, which were a key driver of last week’s rout amid fears of disruption from artificial intelligence, came under pressure yet again Tuesday. Salesforce was down 5%, while ServiceNow fell 6%.
Conversely, shares of stocks that would benefit from an accelerating economy gained, as well as those involved in the buildout of AI data centers. Shares of digital infrastructure provider Vertiv surged 21% after the company posted a fourth-quarter earnings beat and issued a strong 2026 outlook.
Others such as Caterpillar, GE Vernova and Eaton were all higher in the session as well, rising 3%, 4% and 5%, respectively.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January non-farm payrolls report — which had been delayed due to a partial government shutdown that ended on Feb. 3 — showed job growth of 130,000 last month.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had called for a gain of 55,000. The latest figure also marked a sizable increase from December, which was downwardly revised to 48,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury perked, lowering yields to 4.16% from Tuesday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $1.11 to $65.07 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices rocketed $75.90 to $5,106.90 U.S. an ounce.
