US Equity Indexes Mixed as Traders Look Inside Blowout Nonfarm Payrolls

05:08 PM EST, 02/11/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed a strong jobs report that helped lift yields on government bonds.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 23,066.47, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% to 50,121.40, and the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,941.47.

Communication services, financials, and consumer discretionary comprised the decliners. Energy, consumer staples, and materials led the gainers.

Total nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, double the 65,000 gain expected in a Bloomberg poll. Health care led gains, adding 82,000 positions. Employers added 181,000 jobs last year, revised lower from the 584,000 reported previously. In health care, job growth averaged 33,000 a month in 2025.

"There is an extraordinary degree of seasonality in the January payroll data," Jefferies Chief US Economist Thomas Simons said in a note. "Businesses made fewer pre-holiday temporary hires than usual. January is when these businesses let these people go, so fewer hires translates to fewer layoffs, and a strong seasonally adjusted payroll number for January."

Following the strong headline print, the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in January, while the market expected it to hold steady at December's 4.4%. Average hourly earnings grew 0.4% sequentially, the BLS report showed, above the consensus for a 0.3% increase. The annual measure grew 3.7%, in line with expectations.

"The much-discussed downward revisions to payrolls were in line with expectations, with these being concentrated in 1H25," David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie Group, said in a note. "More importantly, the updated trajectory of both total and private payrolls suggests an accelerating pace of job creation, with this having bottomed in mid-2025."

The probability of the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged at its next policy meeting in March stood at 94% late Wednesday from 80% a day ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Most US Treasury yields rose, with the two-year higher by 6.2 basis points to 3.52%, and the 10-year rate up 3.3 basis points to 4.18%.

In the energy market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures advanced 1.6% to $64.95 a barrel.

In precious metals, gold futures rose 1.6% to $5,109.8 per troy ounce and silver futures jumped 4.8% to $84.29 per troy ounce.

In company news, Generac (GNRC) said it expects net sales growth in the mid-teens in 2026 from $4.21 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $4.72 billion. Shares of the company surged 18%, the top gainer on the S&P 500.

Shares of Robinhood Markets (HOOD) slumped 8.8%, among the worst performers on the S&P 500, after the company reported a decline in Q4 net income while sales missed market expectations.

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