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The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped on Wednesday after the better-than-expected January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.
The 30-stock index moved into negative country, losing 66.74 points to 50,121.40.
The S&P 500 index sagged 0.36 points to 6,941.45.
The NASDAQ let go of 36.01 points to 23,066.47.
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 4%, while ServiceNow fell 5%.
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 23% 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.
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 backpedaled, raising yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered one dollar to $64.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices rocketed $79.50 to $5,109.90 U.S. an ounce.
