NEW YORK, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks finished mixed on Wednesday as a favorable antitrust ruling boosted Big Tech shares while new labor market data fueled expectations for a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 24.58 points, or 0.05 percent, to 45,271.23. The S&P 500 rose 32.72 points, or 0.51 percent, to 6,448.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 218.1 points, or 1.02 percent, to 21,497.73.
Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors ended lower, led by energy dropping 2.3 percent and materials losing 0.53 percent. Communication services surged 3.76 percent, while technology added 0.82 percent, driving the day's gains.
The tech rally was fueled by a judge's decision not to force Alphabet's Google to sell its Chrome browser in a closely watched antitrust case. The ruling also allowed Google to continue paying Apple to keep its search engine as the default in Safari and Siri, easing fears of sweeping structural changes.
Alphabet shares jumped 9 percent, while Apple rose 3.81 percent, boosting confidence in the resilience of the Big Tech-led market advance. "This was clearly a clearing event for GOOGL shares, and we continue to like the stock," Mark Mahaney, Evercore ISI head of internet research, said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" business show. "This distraction is behind us. Now, you can focus on the fundamentals, and valuation, I think, is still highly attractive."
On the economic front, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed job openings hit 7.18 million in July, falling to its lowest level in nearly a year, signaling cooling demand for workers. The report, alongside recent downward revisions to spring hiring, added to speculation that the Federal Reserve will move ahead with a rate cut in September.
"Today has seen more evidence that the U.S. jobs market is cooling markedly with vacancies dropping sharply and the quits rate pointing to wage growth slowing to 3 percent. With little inflation pressure coming from the jobs market the Fed is very likely to cut interest rates meaningfully in the months ahead," said James Knightley, Chief International Economist at ING.
Investors now await the August jobs report due Friday, the week's main event.
