Stock market today: Live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after the better-than-expected delayed January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.

The blue-chip index slipped 23 points, less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 added 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.2%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January nonfarm payrolls report — which had been delayed due to a partial government shutdown that ended on Feb. 3 — showed job growth of 130,000 last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones had called for a gain of 55,000. The latest figure also marked a sizable increase from December, which was downwardly revised to 48,000.

The unemployment rate also landed at 4.3%, a bit below the Dow Jones forecast for 4.4%.

While the report showed the strongest job gains in more than a year, areas of growth remained concentrated in just a few sectors, predominantly health care-related, which added 124,000 total positions. That was double the normal growth from 2025. Moreover, there is the continuing specter of downward revisions over the labor market, particularly after every month in 2025 saw adjustments lower. With benchmark annual revisions combined with monthly moves through the year, average monthly job growth last year was just 15,000.

“This is generally a good sign, as you’d expect, but we are certainly not out of the woods yet with respect to the labor market. ‘Moving in the right direction’ would be a better description. The unemployment rate is gradually improving, but there are still plenty of signs that the labor market remains exceedingly weak,” Rick Wedell, CIO at RFG Advisory, said, citing a low quit rate as one example.

“In this environment, it is clear that we still have a long way to go before the labor market can be considered ‘solid,'” he added.

Treasury yields jumped on the heels of the report, which initially gave investors some optimism that the economy was on firm footing. At session highs, the Dow was up more than 300 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.9%. However, Federal Reserve interest rate cut odds were reduced, which could have lessened investor enthusiasm.

The jobs report follows weaker-than-expected consumer data released on Tuesday. That report showed that consumer spending in December was flat, missing the 0.4% monthly gain expected from economists polled by Dow Jones.

“After a long period of prognosticators offering a tepid outlook for the economy based on a weakening labor market, this print provides a solid datapoint on the side of robust economic growth, an improving labor market and wage growth that can support consumer spending,” said Brad Smith, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. “The Fed will take this point in to its calculus when it makes its decision next month on whether to hold rates steady. With its wait-and-see data dependent stance, this will surely put the balance towards a hold.”

Software stocks, which were a key driver of last week’s rout amid fears of disruption from artificial intelligence, came under pressure yet again Tuesday. Salesforce was down 5%, while ServiceNow fell 6%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) dropped 3%, putting it 30% below its 52-week high. The fund entered bear market territory last month.

Conversely, shares of stocks that would benefit from an accelerating economy gained, as well as those involved in the buildout of AI data centers. Shares of digital infrastructure provider Vertiv surged 21% after the company posted a fourth-quarter earnings beat and issued a strong 2026 outlook. Others such as Caterpillar, GE Vernova and Eaton were all higher in the session as well, rising 3%, 4% and 5%, respectively.

The day’s moves come after the broad-based S&P 500 suffered losses Tuesday as worries over AI’s impact on the financial sector weighed on the index. After tech platform Altruist launched a new AI-powered tax planning tool, several financial services firms’ stocks fell. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also posted a losing session, while the 30-stock Dow notched another all-time high and closing record.

Beyond the jobs report, other economic data that could steer markets will be released this week. The consumer price index, a key economic indicator that acts as a gauge for inflation, is expected to come out on Friday.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed reporting