03:26 PM EDT, 07/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with index/price moves from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes traded mixed as the economy added the fewest jobs since February, triggering a rotation out of high-growth sectors and into defensives.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3% to 25,705.9, and the S&P 500 declined 0.5% to 7,446.5 ahead of Thursday's close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend, remaining 0.6% higher at 52,638.7 after hitting a new all-time peak earlier in the session.

Communication services, technology, and consumer discretionary were the steepest decliners. Healthcare, consumer staples, and utilities led the gainers.

The June employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, below the 113,000 jump expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. May payrolls were revised downward to a 129,000 gain, and April payrolls were revised down to a 148,000 expansion, for a net downward revision of 74,000 jobs.

Most US Treasury yields fell, with the two-year down 2.7 basis points to 4.14%.

In geopolitical news, the Doha discussions between the US and Iran produced "positive progress" on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June and were "building on the outcomes" from the Switzerland summit, a Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, according to Reuters.

Negotiators spent two days discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and unfreezing Iran's funds, two critical issues under the initial deal, sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Iran issued a fresh warning for vessels to follow Tehran-designated routes through the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported Thursday.

The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent was little changed at $71.57 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.2% to $68.47 per barrel.