Wall Street steadies itself as Alphabet rallies and pressure eases from
the bond market
[September 04, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street steadied on Wednesday after Alphabet and
other technology stocks rallied. It also got some relief from easing
pressure from the bond market, where the latest discouraging report on
the U.S. job market bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will
cut interest rates soon to support the economy.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to break the two-day losing slide it had been
on since setting its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average dipped 24 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1%.
Google’s parent company was one of the strongest forces lifting the
market and jumped 9.1% after avoiding some of the worst-case scenarios
in its antitrust case. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shake-up of
Google’s search engine but did not force a sale of its Chrome browser.
Because Alphabet is one of Wall Street’s most valuable companies, its
stock movements carry much more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes
than the typical company’s.
Also helping to steady Wall Street was a calming bond market. A day
earlier, yields climbed worldwide on worries about governments’
abilities to repay their growing mountains of debt, as well as concerns
that President Donald Trump’s pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut
short-term interest rates could lead to higher inflation in the long
term.
Such worries have pushed investors to demand higher yields before
lending money to governments. And when bonds are paying more in
interest, investors feel less need to pay high prices for stocks, which
are riskier investments.
On Wednesday, Treasury yields retreated following the latest report on
the U.S. job market to come in weaker than expected. The 10-year
Treasury yield fell to 4.22% from 4.28% late Tuesday, for example.
The report showed that U.S. employers were advertising 7.2 million job
openings at the end of July, fewer than economists had forecast. The
number bolsters the sense on Wall Street that the job market may be
ossifying into a low-hire, low-fire state.
A weakened job market could push the Federal Reserve to cut its main
interest rate for the first time this year at its next meeting, which is
scheduled for later this month. That’s the widespread expectation among
traders, with the next big data point coming on Friday via an update on
U.S. hiring during August.
Lower interest rates could give the job market and overall economy a
boost. The downside is that they can also push inflation higher when
Trump’s tariffs may be set to raise prices for all kinds of imports.
Trading on Wall Street was mixed outside of tech stocks, which benefited
from the Alphabet ruling. Apple rose 3.8% after analysts highlighted how
the ruling will still allow it to sign lucrative search deals with
Google.
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A sign outside the New York Stock Exchange marks the intersection of
Wall and Broad Streets, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
 “This is a relief, an outcome that
is much better than feared for Google and for Apple,” according to
Chris Marangi, co-chief investment officer of value at Gabelli
Funds.
Macy’s jumped 20.7% for one of the market’s bigger gains after the
retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter
than analysts expected. The owner of Bloomingdale’s delivered the
best growth in an important measure of sales in three years, and it
also raised its forecasts for sales and profit this fiscal year.
American Bitcoin, a bitcoin treasury and mining company linked to
the Trump family, rose 16.5% in a manic first day of trading after
completing its merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. Its stock price
more than doubled at one point, and its movements were so frenetic
that trading was halted several times through the day.
Campbell’s rose 7.2% after the company behind the Goldfish and V8
brands reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than
analysts expected. It also said, though, that customers are
continuing to be “increasingly deliberate” and that tariffs may help
drag its overall earnings lower in its upcoming fiscal year.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Dollar Tree, even though the
retailer likewise reported a better profit than analysts expected. A
chunk of that performance came because of the timing of tariffs,
which could drag down its results in the current quarter.
Analysts also said expectations were high for the value retailer
coming into its report. Its stock fell 8.4%, slicing into its gain
for the year that came into the day at a stellar 48.6%.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 32.72 points to 6,448.26. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average fell 24.58 to 45,271.23, and the Nasdaq composite
jumped 218.10 to 21,497.73.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes climbed following a weaker
finish across much of Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% amid uncertainty about the political
future of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed.
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