S&P 500 Falls 0.4 Percent as Chip Stocks Drop

U.S. stocks finished mixed after a government report showed employers added 57,000 jobs last month. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent even though two-thirds of its components rose, while the Dow Jones gained 297 points, or 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.1 percent after giving up an early advance.

The Australian sharemarket is set to rise 29 points, or 0.3 percent, at the open. The ASX finished flat on Thursday, and the Australian dollar strengthened to US69.18 cents.

Treasury yields eased after the hiring report showed growth below the 100,000 jobs economists had forecast. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.49 percent, and the two-year yield declined more sharply. Traders now assign an 82 percent probability that the Federal Reserve will leave its benchmark rate unchanged at its next meeting this month, up from 71 percent a day earlier.

A strategist at Annex Wealth Management said the labor market data could allow the central bank to wait through the summer before deciding on any rate increase.

Beverage rose 13.4 percent after announcing a special dividend of US$3.25 per share. Dollar Tree gained 1.9 percent after approving a stock-buyback program of up to US$2.5 billion. Robinhood Markets advanced 3.2 percent and Coinbase Global rose 3.6 percent as bitcoin climbed 2.6 percent.

Chip stocks weighed on indexes. Micron Technology fell 7 percent, Nvidia declined 2.4 percent, and Applied Materials dropped 10 percent. South Korea's Kospi index sank 7.9 percent, its largest decline since a 10 percent drop a little more than a week earlier.

Tokyo's index fell 2.5 percent and Shanghai's index declined 2 percent. Brent crude dipped 0.1 percent to US$71.49 per barrel on hopes for negotiations to end the conflict with Iran.