Dow Jones closes at record high, NASDAQ drops 0.8% as semiconductor stocks drag

Wall Street witnessed a mixed session on Thursday, July 2, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high as weak job growth silenced calls for the Fed to raise interest rates.

The Dow Jones settled 1.14%, or 594.83 points higher, at 52,900.07. The S&P 500 index recuperated from the day's low to end flat.

NASDAQ closed 0.80% lower at 25,832.67 due to profit booking in chip stocks, which have seen a strong rally this year.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) slipped 4.5%. Teradyne shares declined 13.6%, while KLA lost 11.5%. Nvidia slid 1.4%, while Micron pulled back 5.5%.

Apple Inc, which is part of all three major indexes, rose 4.84% on reports that it will launch five new iPhone models in the second half of 2026 and the first half of 2027.

Tesla shares closed 7.49% lower despite posting better-than-anticipated vehicle deliveries in the second quarter of 2026.

In the June quarter, the electric vehicle maker produced more than 450,000 vehicles and delivered over 480,000 vehicles and deployed 13.5 GWh of energy storage products.

However, investors believed that it was due to soaring gas prices.

The US market will be closed on Friday, June 3, to mark the US Independence Day holiday.

Asian stocks rise

Asian shares were trading in positive territory on Friday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.77% to 69,260. South Korea's Kospi advanced 2.35% to 7,822. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.73% to 4,058.

Similarly, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Singapore's Straits Times were trading with the gains of 1.06% and 0.13%, respectively.

In energy trading, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.31% to $68.90 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 0.56% to $72.20 per barrel.