Weaker US Job Data Boosts Stocks Amid Slowing Interest Rate Hike Bets

US equity markets closed the week on a high note as investors welcomed weaker-than-expected job data, which may deter the Federal Reserve from further interest rate hikes.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.4% on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite outperforming at 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 110 points or 0.2%.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained more than 3%, while the Nasdaq surged over 4%, driven by semiconductor stocks that saw a weekly rise of over 7%.

Technology shares led the advance, with Cloudflare surging 10% after issuing strong forecasts and Atlassian's results sending its shares up 34%.