Bitcoin hovered near $65,000 on Friday, while Ether traded around $1,903 and the broader crypto market remained largely flat ahead of US labor data.

US payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, compared with an expected gain of 83,000, while unemployment eased to 4.1%. The data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep rates in the 3.50% to 3.75% range at its September meeting. A weakening labor market has historically been one of the Fed's most closely watched signals when weighing whether to maintain or adjust monetary policy stance.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.2%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.5%, and Dow futures added 160 points after the previous session on Wall Street ended lower.

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Wall Street ended Friday higher after the unexpected drop in July employment reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve would keep rates unchanged for now.

The S&P 500 rose 0.62% to a record 7,757.64, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3% to 26,690.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 151.83 points, or 0.28%, to 54,036.93.

That finish capped a second consecutive winning week for stocks. After moving above 7,700 for the first time earlier in the week, the S&P 500 ended the five-day period up 3.6%.

The Nasdaq gained 5.2%, supported by a recovery in chipmakers, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose more than 7%. The Dow added nearly 3%. All three major indexes recorded their strongest weeks since April. The semiconductor rebound came after the sector had faced pressure earlier in the month, with investors closely tracking demand signals from the AI hardware supply chain.

In currencies, the yen gave back part of the jump triggered by last week's joint US-Japan intervention.

The operation, announced on July 31 and involving the US Treasury and the Bank of Japan, initially pushed the dollar down from a little above ¥163 to around ¥155. A week later, the exchange rate had moved back toward ¥158.50 per dollar, meaning the yen had surrendered close to half of its initial gains.

The dollar had been near a three-week low against other major currencies on Thursday, while traders also watched negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is a critical oil shipping chokepoint, and any disruption there typically reverberates across energy markets and inflation expectations.

Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at Ebury, told Cryptopolitan that Trump continued to signal that an agreement was close, although markets were reluctant to accept that timing without more evidence. Ryan said the main unresolved issue was whether Iran would agree to give up control over traffic through the Strait.

He added that a longer delay could eventually draw buyers back into the dollar, though traders were still maintaining a relatively upbeat stance for now.

Ahead of Friday's employment report, Ryan said investors were closely focused on the July payrolls release because expectations for the Federal Reserve's September meeting were nearly evenly split.

Economists had expected roughly 80,000 new jobs and no change in unemployment. Ryan said: "While we think that this would be solid enough to confirm that the jobs market remains in a 'low hire, low fire' state, we do not think that it would be enough to validate the hawkish dissenters at the July FOMC meeting. Instead, a print in that range would likely reinforce the case for patience, shifting the market's focus onto developments in the Iran conflict and the upcoming CPI prints."

SpaceX shares jumped 12% on Friday, extending what has become the company's strongest weekly performance in some time. The stock was up almost 19% for the week, putting it on track to finish a week higher after four straight weeks in the red.

Part of the rebound followed Argus' upgrade of Space Exploration Technologies from hold to buy. The firm kept its $160 price target, which would imply roughly 39% upside from Thursday's closing level.

The shares had fallen earlier in the week amid concerns about possible selling pressure as several share-unlock dates approached. By Friday, those fears appeared to have been priced in, and the stock rallied sharply instead of extending its decline.

Nvidia also had a strong week. The chipmaker had gained more than 10% since Monday and was up more than 1% in Friday trading.

The latest boost followed comments from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who said Nvidia would be the company's exclusive partner as SpaceX expands its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

During SpaceX's first earnings call since becoming a public company on Aug. 4, Musk said the decision was based on Nvidia's latest hardware. "We've decided to build exclusively on Nvidia because we think the Vera Rubin architecture is the best architecture," he said.

Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform combines CPUs, which handle data movement and workload coordination, with GPUs designed to process query-and-response tasks.

Bitcoin briefly moved above $65,000 on Friday just before the US jobs report was released, though it remained basically flat for the week.

TradingView data showed Ether at $1,903, while other major cryptocurrencies were mostly within a percentage point or two of where they began the week.

The jobs report then came in much weaker than expected. US nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, missing the 83,000 increase forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

The unemployment rate declined to 4.1%, rather than holding at the expected 4.2%, but that came as the labor force participation rate dropped to its lowest level in more than five years. A falling participation rate can mask underlying labor-market softening, since people who stop looking for work are no longer counted as unemployed.

Stock futures responded positively to the data, with traders taking the weak employment reading as another reason for the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.

Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.2%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, and Dow futures climbed 160 points, or 0.3%. CME FedWatch pricing also showed that most fed funds futures traders expected the Fed to keep its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% next month.

The rebound followed a difficult Thursday on Wall Street. Higher oil prices weighed on equities, sending the Dow down more than 460 points, or 0.9%, and ending its five-session winning streak. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

Oil moved lower on Friday. September WTI futures fell 0.6% to $76.85 a barrel, while Brent crude declined 0.7% to $81.90.

Precious metals were stronger. Gold rose another 1% to about $4,300 an ounce, while silver moved above $64 an ounce after rising more than 4% over the previous 24 hours. Both metals are widely viewed as traditional stores of value, and their gains came alongside expectations that a softer labor market could keep the Fed from tightening further.

What to Know

Markets are reacting to the weaker-than-expected US jobs report, with stocks bouncing, crypto remaining mostly steady, metals rising, and oil easing.