US stocks mostly gained on Wednesday after Google (GOOG, GOOGL) was spared the worst in an antitrust ruling and a fresh update on job openings added to September rate-cut bets.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.8%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved up 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech stocks, moved 0.3% lower on the heels of a downbeat day for stocks.
Tech hopes are buoying markets after a judge’s decision not to force Google to sell its Chrome browser to loosen its search dominance. The ruling late Tuesday also allowed the Alphabet-owned company to continue paying Apple (AAPL) to use Google Search as the default in Safari and Siri.
The outcome of the landmark antitrust case fell far short of Wall Street’s worst fears, lifting a regulatory risk that had hung over Google’s stock. The tech giant’s shares rallied early Wednesday, as did Apple’s, and faith in the staying power of the Big Tech rally got a boost as the ruling was welcomed as a big win.
The Dow is lagging even as the sell-off in bonds eases, having piled on pressure amid uncertainty around President Trump’s trade policy and the Federal Reserve. The 30-year Treasury yield (^TYX) traded at around 4.90%, pulling back after rising to within a hair’s breadth of the key 5% level overnight. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) also pared gains to just below 4.22%.
Job openings hit 7.18 million in July, according to the latest JOLTS report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure was below the 7.38 million expected by economists tracked by Bloomberg and the 7.36 million open jobs in June.
July’s jobs report showed cracks appearing in the labor market, and further signs of stress could convince the Fed to make a deeper cut in interest rates than currently expected at its September meeting. The crucial August jobs report is set to land Friday.
