NEW YORK Jan 7 ― The S&P 500 ended a volatile session close to unchanged yesterday, as technology shares fell but financials lent support a day after the market sold off on a hawkish slant in Federal Reserve minutes.

The S&P 500 financials index rose 1.6 per cent, extending this week's strong gains. Other economically sensitive sectors also advanced. Energy gained 2.3 per cent and is up more than 9 per cent since December 31.

Banks were among top performers among financials, with the S&P 500 bank index up 2.6 per cent following a rise in the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield, which touched its highest level since April 2021. Higher interest rates can increase profit margins for banks and financial firms.

Shares of Meta Platforms jumped 2.6 per cent, the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The Dow ended down 0.5 per cent and the heavily weighted S&P 500 technology sector also eased 0.5%. The tech sector was biggest drag on the S&P 500 on Wednesday when minutes from the Fed's December meeting signalled the possibility of sooner-than-expected interest rate hikes.

The Fed minutes cited a "very tight” job market and unabated inflation, increasing investor unease ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report from the US Labour Department.

"We have a jobs report tomorrow, which continues to be a focal area for the market in terms of the progression of the labour market,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

A private payrolls report on Wednesday was stronger than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 170.64 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 36,236.47, the S&P 500 lost 4.53 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 4,696.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 19.31 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 15,080.87.

Investors this week have mostly rotated out of technology-heavy growth shares and into more value-oriented stocks that tend to do better in a high interest-rate environment.

The S&P 500 value index was up 0.1 per cent yesterday compared with a 0.3 per cent decline in its growth counterpart.

Netflix Inc ended down 2.5 per cent after JP Morgan cut its price target on the movie streaming platform's stock.

Data yesterday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week. Separately, US services industry activity slowed more than expected in December, but supply bottlenecks appeared to be easing.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.07-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 492 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 11.10 billion shares, compared with the 10.4 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. ― Reuters