S&P 500 Advances Amid Tech Gains Despite Market Slide

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% on Wednesday despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 25 points. Alphabet and Apple led the gains, contributing to the Nasdaq Composite's 1% increase.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% on Wednesday, September 2, 2025, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 25 points. The gains were led by Alphabet and Apple, contributing to a 1% increase in the Nasdaq Composite [1]. The market's performance was influenced by several factors, including a favorable antitrust ruling for Alphabet and softer-than-expected job openings data for July.

Alphabet's shares jumped 8.3% to hit an intraday record high after a Washington judge ruled late on Tuesday that Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser, but will have to share data with rivals. This ruling allowed Google to keep making lucrative payments to the iPhone maker, which also saw its shares increase by 8.4% [1].

The communication services index gained 3.3% to hit a record high, and tech stocks gained 0.6%. The ruling helped to alleviate concerns about potential disruptions to tech stocks, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment officer at CFRA Research. "It's helping tech stocks in general... we are not seeing the injection of tremendous confusion if Alphabet were required to sell off its browser or make some changes with its arrangement with Apple," said Stovall [1].

However, the market's performance was also affected by a softer-than-expected job openings report for July, which fell to 7.181 million. This report, along with other upcoming jobs indicators, has traders pricing in a 95.6% chance of a September rate cut, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool [1]. The Federal Reserve's likely upcoming rate-cutting cycle could provide support for the market moving forward, according to UBS, which noted that periods of interest rate cuts while the economy is still growing have historically been linked with positive equity market returns [2].

Energy stocks fell 2%, tracking lower oil prices, while the passenger airlines index rose 1.7% due to the prospect of cheaper fuel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 203.83 points, or 0.45%, to 45,091.98, the S&P 500 gained 21.34 points, or 0.33%, to 6,436.88, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 208.40 points, or 0.98%, to 21,488.03 [1].

Declines in industrial stocks weighed on the Dow, and the market closed sharply lower on Tuesday after a court ruling deemed most of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs illegal, reviving fiscal concerns and sparking a sell-off in U.S. Treasuries. Yields on the 30-year note touched 5% on Wednesday for the first time since July 18 [1].

September has historically been a challenging month for U.S. equities, with the index losing 1.5% on average since the turn of the century, according to data compiled by LSEG. However, HSBC raised its 2025 year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,500 from 6,400, reflecting optimism in the market [1].

Department store operator Macy's soared 19.5% after raising its annual forecasts, while discount retailer Dollar Tree dropped 8.3% despite a forecast hike, becoming the biggest decliner on the S&P 500 [1]. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said monetary policy is in the right place, without clarifying whether he supports an interest rate cut this month. Governor Christopher Waller repeated his rate-cut call, and Fed's Neel Kashkari is scheduled to deliver a speech on the day [1].

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 50 new lows [1].

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/s-p-500-and-nasdaq-gain-after-alphabet-antitrust-ruling-soft-jobs-data-ce7d59dbdb89f125
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/01/stock-market-today-live-updates.html