Nasdaq Surges on Alphabet?s Antitrust Win; Dow Slips Amid Oil Weakness

Alphabet?s 9.1% rally lifted tech stocks, while softer U.S. job data boosted Fed rate cut hopes; gold rose, oil weighed on energy shares.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 218.10 points (1%) to 21,497.73 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.72 points (0.5%) to 6,448.26. The Dow posted a modest loss, edging down 24.58 points (0.1%) to 45,271.23.

Alphabet (GOOGL?s parent) spiked by 9.1% due to which Nasdaq rebounded. Alphabet also rallied after a federal judge ruled the company will avoid the most severe consequences in a landmark antitrust case. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google will not be required to divest its Chrome browser nor a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system.

Apple (AAPL) jumped by 3.8%, as the decision allows the tech giant to continue to preload Google Search onto its iPhones. Labor Department released a report showing job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in ten months in July. Though the data provides further signs of softening labor market conditions, the report has also increased confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Most of the major sectors ended the day with modest moves. Gold stocks moved notably higher, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.8% as the price of the precious metal reached another new record high. a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil weighed on energy stocks, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 2.7% and 2.6%.

Asia-Pacific moved mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.9%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2%. The major European markets have moved to the upside on the day while the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7% and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5%.

In the bond market, treasuries saw a notable rebound following the slump seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, tumbled by 6.6 bps to 4.21%.

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