The tech-driven market rose on Wednesday after a federal court ruled mostly in favor of Alphabet in the Google-parent's antitrust case and the latest labor market data fueled optimism of a coming interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's meeting later this month.

The S&P 500 Index (SPY  ) rose 0.5% on Wednesday to settle at 6,448.26 and the Nasdaq Composite (QQQ  ) jumped 1% to close at 21,497.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ), meanwhile, slipped about 25 point to end the session at 45,271.23 as investors rotated into growth stocks.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled late Tuesday that Google (GOOG  ) (GOOGL  ) could continue to hold its Chrome browser, stating that increased competition from generative artificial intelligence impacts the illegal monopoly the search engine giant was found guilty of in August 2024. Instead, the court imposed limits on how Google distributes its services, now requiring the company to share its Search data with competitors, the company wrote in a blog post.

JPMorgan raised its price target for Alphabet following the ruling to $260, implying a 23% upside from Tuesday's closing price.

"The long awaited Google Search Commercial Agreement remedies announced Tuesday afternoon were much more favorable for Google than anticipated, particularly as the Judge took into account the rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive search landscape spurred by GenAI," the firm wrote in a note, adding that "the Judge's conclusions were mostly positive for Google and we see them having no major impact to financials going forward, which is a win."

The decision was also seen as a benefit for Apple (AAPL  ), who Google pays billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on its iPhone, an agreement Google is permitted to continue after this federal court decision.

Also in the spotlight, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released Wednesday showed the lowest amount of open positions since the COVID pandemic, offering another sign of a cooling labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported about 7.18 million job listings in July, marking the second reading under 7.2 million since the end of 2020 -- September 2024 saw just 7.1 million openings.

The lower-than-expected reading for employment openings only raises the importance of Friday's monthly jobs report for August, as further signs of stress on the labor market could spur the central bank to issue a deeper interest rate cut than the 25-basis-point one projected by much of Wall Street, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

On the earnings front, Macy's (M  ) reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and raised its full-year earnings and sales guidance, benefitting from its efforts to redesign its stores. The department store retailer now expects adjusted earnings of between $1.70 and $2.05 per share on revenue between $21.15 billion and $21.45 billion, compared to its previous respective ranges of $1.60 to $2.00 per share and $21 billion to $21.4 billion.

"We're adjusting prices, but as appropriate, not broad-based and really assessing it with our partners in an effort to remain competitive," CFO Tom Edwards told analysts during the company's earnings call on Wednesday when asked about the impact of tariffs. "I believe that we are really well positioned to navigate through this time given our business model."

For Thursday, market participants will digest the latest wave of earnings reports from companies including Salesforce (CRM  ) and Figma (FIG  ), as well as fresh economic readings on the labor market and U.S. services for the month of August.