US stocks finished the trading session with record highs Friday as investors looked to the Federal Reserve closer to soon cut interest rates following a softer than expected June jobs report.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) advanced close to 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) climbed 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) increased 0.9%, led by the gains of the tech giants, many of which set their own records at the closing bell.

If Tesla (TSLA) can be a tech company when car sales falter, surely it can be a car company when sales exceed expectations. That’s how Wall Street sees it, as Tesla bulls are once again ascendant.

Over the last week, Tesla shares have surged more than 25%, boosted by vehicle deliveries that beat estimates, leaving the paltry gains of the rest of the "Magnificent Seven" in the dust.

When CEO Elon Musk insisted earlier this year that Tesla isn’t a car company, the message jolted the stock price even as sales faltered. While convenient, the pitch was true enough. And the edict apparently goes both ways.

The stock surge speaks to the power of touting an industry-leading product — a lesson for AI startups — and the benefit of making AI ambitions a part of a broader business plan, rather than the sole aspect of it. But conversely, it underscores that Tesla’s heady AI goals are still closely tethered to its car sales.

Combining lofty techno-ambitions with moving cars off lots has been key to Musk’s salesmanship.

New upbeat vehicle delivery data counters a wave of negative sentiment.

Weighed down by stiffening competition in China, softening demand at home, price cuts, layoffs, and Musk’s legal and corporate dramas, Tesla had limped along as a Magnificent Seven laggard. But recent wins have a way of erasing earlier losses. And Tesla is now riding a string of victories, with an earnings report and a much-hyped robotaxi unveiling just around the corner.

In some ways, Tesla’s flexible identity as a car company when times are good and a tech company when the chips are down can be a hindrance to a clear corporate strategy. Is Tesla still gunning for a mass-market EV in every family’s driveway? Or is it a platform orchestrating a fleet of autonomous taxis expanding the frontier of AI technology?

It can be both, of course. And Musk is prone to wanting it all. Investors don’t seem to mind which metaphorical cap the company is wearing on any particular day. Just as long as the numbers go up. AI can make that happen. And, for now, so can cars.

As two of the major gauges were on track to log record highs at Friday's close, crypto investors in contrast were reeling.

The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) against the US dollar sank more than 2% Friday, continuing a losing streak, and pulling down the value of the most popular digital currency to its lowest since February.

The catalysts range from potential selling by governments, to uncertainty over the return of billions of dollars worth of bitcoin to creditors of the failed Mt. Gox exchange.

After rising to a record high in March, bitcoin has lost more than 15% over the past three months. And excitement over crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has waned.

Falling sentiment is weighing over crypto-linked companies as well.

Shares of Coinbase (COIN), the digital asset platform, fell by 1%, reflecting the falling prices of bitcoin, the most influential cryptocurrency and largest by market cap. Crypto miner Marathon (MARA) fell by 4%, and the online broker Robinhood (HOOD) lost a little less than 2%.

The June jobs report signaled that the labor market is softening, but it provided another sign in the ongoing interest rate saga: the Fed is more likely to cut rates in the coming months.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, investors are pricing in a nearly 78% chance the Fed lowers rates in September. That's a slight increase from a day ago, when the probability stood at 75%.

But its not just investor bets that reflect shifting momentum.

As Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland reports, Friday's jobs report opens the possibility that labor market data might overtake inflation readings as the primary catalyst for influencing the Fed's decisions.

Recent inflation reports show progress in easing price pressures. But heightened unemployment rates, which clash with more modest projections, may pressure the Fed to act with more urgency.

To some analysts the latest jobs report bolsters the case for central bankers to cut rates in the near future, or risk falling behind and creating another pain point for Americans.

"Today's employment report ought to firm up expectations of a September rate cut," Renaissance Macro's head of economics Neil Dutta wrote in a note to clients. "Economic conditions are cooling and that makes the trade-offs different for the Fed ... Powell should use July to set up a September cut."

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during afternoon trading on Friday.

Apple (AAPL): Shares of the iPhone maker rose 1.5% Friday afternoon following Evercore ISI reaffirming its bullish stance on the company, reiterating a Buy rating and a $250 price target for the market cap leader. The firm cites "another good month" for Apple as the basis for its outlook. Apple stock has risen sharply ever since the company unveiled its vision for AI-boosted services.

Amazon (AMZN): The ecommerce and cloud company gained more than 1%, joining its tech giant peers in the green Friday. Amazon was boosted developments in the retail space. HBC, the parent company of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, reached an agreement to acquire its high-end competitor Neiman Marcus Group in a deal valued at $2.65 billion. The merger will result in the creation of a new corporate entity named Saks Global, with Amazon set to become a minority stakeholder.

Tesla (TSLA): Tesla shares pulled back some after investors drove up the EV maker nearly 25% over the past week, after the company reported vehicle deliveries that exceeded Wall Street expectations. More broadly, investors are banking on a positive quarterly report later this month and a robotaxi unveiling in early August that bullish analysts say will form the next stage of the Tesla story. Shares fell less than 1% in morning trading.

Coinbase (COIN): The crypto market is reeling and pulling down related companies with it. The digital asset exchange fell by 5%, reflecting the falling prices of bitcoin (BTC-USD), the most popular cryptocurrency and largest by market cap. Bitcoin sank to its lowest against the dollar since February. Crypto miner Marathon (MARA) fell by 7%, and the online broker Robinhood (HOOD) sank 4%.

Stocks mostly ticked upward Friday afternoon, following a June jobs report that may pressure the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates as soon as September.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) put on 0.3% on the heels of the report after notching a record close in a shortened session on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.8%, powered by the gains of the tech giants.

Tesla (TSLA) shares rose as much as 1.1% during morning trading on Friday, setting the company up to extend its longest win streak in over a year.

After a 30% rally over the past seven sessions — and a nearly 40% rise in the last month — the stock is nearing breakeven for 2024 after falling as much as 40% year to date as of mid-April. reports Yahoo Finance's Ines Ferré. The gains far outpace the S&P 500's modest 3.5% rise over the last month.

Tesla's extended rally comes as the car manufacturer beat on quarterly deliveries earlier this week.

Aside from these production and delivery results, Tesla bulls have also highlighted the company’s fastest-growing segment — its energy storage business.

Tesla will report its quarterly results on July 23 after the market close. Analysts are also looking ahead to Aug. 8 when the company will unveil its much-anticipated robotaxi.

US stocks held near all-time highs on Friday as investors parsed how the June jobs report, which showed a slightly higher unemployment rate, will influence the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision making.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was little changed on the heels of the report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped below the flatline, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) hovered above it. Friday's trading session continues the action from Wednesday, as all three gauges were shuttered on Thursday for the Fourth of July holiday.

There's no question what the story to emerge from Friday's jobs report will be — the Federal Reserve is risking ending up behind the curve.

Meaning the central bank may end up cutting rates too late, just as many believe it was too slow to raise interest rates back in 2022.

With the unemployment rate now at its highest level since November 2021, other data — like a rise in continuing jobless claims and a drop in job openings — start to look like they've been sending a clear signal that headline job gains have overstated the strength of the labor market.

Inflation data continue to slow toward the Fed's 2% target, though that progress appeared to stall in the first few months of the year.

The Powell Fed's sensitivity to inflation data running above its target after the 40-year high in price increases we saw back in 2022 has been the predominant feature of this policy regime. But the labor market is starting to speak louder and more clearly: Things are getting challenging for more workers.

Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro has become the leading voice on Wall Street saying the Fed needs to be more forceful this fall in cutting rates. In a note just minutes after Friday's report dropped he said: "Today's employment report ought to firm up expectations of a September rate cut. Economic conditions are cooling and that makes the trade-offs different for the Fed."

In Dutta's view, the Fed's July meeting should set the table for a September cut.

The US labor market added more jobs than expected in June while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, reaching its highest level since November 2021 in another sign the job market continues to cool.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed the US economy market added 206,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, more than the 190,000 expected by economists.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, up from 4% in the month prior and the highest reading in almost three years. June's job additions were a slight decline from May, which saw job gains revised down on Friday to 218,000 from the 272,000 initially reported last month.

Stock futures turned higher following the report, adding to gains after the market traded to record highs earlier this week amid a slew of softer-than-expected economic data, including readings on inflation that have the US pacing back toward a "disinflationary path," according to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.