Bad news was once again good news for Wall Street.
A surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report sent investors rushing back into speculative technology stocks Friday, as slowing labor-market momentum fueled hopes the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold rather than resume tightening next month.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, missing expectations for an 86,000 increase and marking a sharp deterioration from June’s downwardly revised gain of just 20,000.
• What’s ahead for SOXL stock?
Why Did The US Economy Trim Jobs Last Month?
The details were less alarming than the headline suggested.
Government payrolls accounted for most of the weakness, falling by 53,000 — the largest monthly decline since the October 2025 federal government shutdown. Private-sector hiring remained broadly resilient.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged lower to 4.1% from 4.2%, while average hourly earnings rose just 0.1% in July, reinforcing signs that wage pressures continue to cool.
For investors, that combination, a softer labor market with cooling wages, was the reason to push Treasury yields lower and reduce expectations for another Fed rate hike.
According to CME FedWatch, traders now assign a 45% probability to a quarter-point increase at the Sept. 16 FOMC meeting, down from 55% just one day earlier.
Lower rate expectations tend to benefit long-duration growth stocks because future earnings become more valuable as discount rates fall.
That dynamic fueled a broad rally across AI-related semiconductors and other high-beta technology names in premarket trading.
According to Benzinga Pro, these were among the biggest premarket gainers in the 30 minutes following the employment report.
Tech Bets Surge As Rate-Cut Hopes Return
The biggest winners following Friday’s jobs report were the market’s highest-beta growth names, exactly the companies that tend to benefit the most when Treasury yields fall.
Leveraged semiconductor ETF Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:SOXL) jumped more than 5%, reflecting renewed appetite for AI-related chip stocks after the two-year Treasury yield sank nearly seven basis points.
Among individual semiconductor names, Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) gained 4.5%, Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) advanced nearly 3%, while AI infrastructure plays Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB), Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER), KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) all traded firmly higher.
The rally wasn’t limited to semiconductors.
Rate-sensitive stocks also outperformed, with Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE:RKT) climbing more than 7% as lower Treasury yields improve the outlook for mortgage demand.
Gold miners joined the advance after the weaker dollar and lower real yields pushed bullion sharply higher. Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE:GFI), AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU), Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE:HMY), Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE:CDE), Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX) and Hudbay Minerals Inc. (NYSE:HBM) all posted gains.
| Company | Premarket Change |
|---|---|
| Cencora (NYSE:COR) | +8.06% |
| Rocket Companies | +7.23% |
| Fortive (NYSE:FTV) | +6.92% |
| Fox Corp. (NASDAQ:FOX) | +6.37% |
| Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares ETF | +5.05% |
| Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) | +5.03% |
| Microchip Technology | +4.47% |
| Gold Fields | +4.15% |
| AngloGold Ashanti | +3.82% |
| Harmony Gold Mining | +3.40% |
