BENGALURU:

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched fresh peaks on Friday, boosted by gains in Nvidia and other technology stocks, while a stronger-than-expected jobs report allayed concerns over the state of the laboUr market.

Tech heavyweights Nvidia and Apple rose 2.3% and 1.8%, respectively, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index recovered from Thursday’s losses to reach a new high on expectations of strong AI infrastructure demand.

Data showed US employment increased more than expected in April and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% – pointing to labour market resilience and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some time.

“It was encouraging that hiring broadened across sectors, a sign of improving labour market breadth,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior strategist at Edward Jones.