Semiconductor index rises 2.40%; Tesla gains 4.65% on better-than-expected deliveries; Seagate and Western Digital plunge on reports of Toshiba’s production expansion plans.
Wall Street closed higher across the board as a moderation in U.S. employment growth eased pressures for additional interest rate hikes. Bolstered by strength in the semiconductor and mega-cap technology sectors, the Nasdaq Composite posted the largest gain among the major indices.
On the 2nd (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 250.40 points, or 0.49%, at 51,176.96. The S&P 500 gained 56.27 points, or 0.73%, to close at 7,722.72, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 319.27 points, or 1.19%, to 27,190.86.
Employment data released on the day dampened market anxiety surrounding further monetary tightening. U.S. non-farm payrolls increased by 29,000 in September from the previous month, falling short of the Reuters consensus estimate of 90,000. Job gains for July and August were also revised down by a cumulative 60,000. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, and average hourly earnings rose 0.1% month-on-month.
In interest rate futures markets, expectations for a rate hike in October remained subdued. According to CME FedWatch data cited by Reuters, the probability of the Federal Reserve (Fed) raising interest rates by 0.25 percentage points or more in October edged down to 22.7% from 24.4% in the previous session—down sharply from 64.2% a week ago.
In the semiconductor sector, Broadcom advanced 3.35%, AMD rose 2.95%, and Nvidia gained 1.34%. Texas Instruments also participated in the rally, jumping 4.44%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed up 307.68 points, or 2.40%, at 13,136.68, outperforming the major benchmarks.
Tesla shares climbed 4.65% after its third-quarter vehicle deliveries topped market expectations. The company reported deliveries of 486,532 vehicles, beating the FactSet consensus estimate of approximately 461,000. Although down about 2.1% year-on-year, the better-than-expected sales figures lifted the stock.
Most other mega-cap tech stocks also moved higher. Alphabet gained 1.55%, Amazon rose 1.32%, Apple advanced 1.02%, Microsoft ticked up 0.92%, and Meta added 0.30%. Oracle and Dell rose 3.06% and 3.84%, respectively.
Despite the broader technology rally, data storage shares slumped. Seagate Technology plunged 10.21% and Western Digital tumbled roughly 10%. Reports that Toshiba plans to double its production capacity for hard disk drives targeted at artificial intelligence (AI) data centers sparked concerns over intensifying competition and easing supply constraints, weighing heavily on the sector. SanDisk and Micron also declined 3.79% and 2.05%, respectively.
Despite the synchronized gains on the day, weekly performances were mixed. For the week, the Nasdaq rose 0.45%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow fell 0.27% and 1.26%, respectively, failing to fully recover earlier weekly losses.
