NEW YORK, Sept. 4 -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, as Wall Street tried to bounce back from a sluggish start to September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.04 points, or 0.09 percent, to 40,974.97. The S&P 500 sank 8.86 points, or 0.16 percent, to 5,520.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 52.00 points, or 0.30 percent, to 17,084.3.

Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with energy and materials leading the laggards by losing 1.41 percent and 0.48 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, utilities and consumer staples led the gainers by rising 0.85 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively.

Investors are looking ahead to Friday's monthly jobs report, which is anticipated to provide crucial insights into the Federal Reserve's rate cut plans and will offer clues about whether the economy is heading toward a recession or a soft landing.

"At least on the margins, you're seeing some nibbling after that sell off yesterday," said Keith Lerner, Truist's co-chief investment officer. "Investors are a bit on edge, it's a low-conviction trade. Everyone is waiting for this Friday employment report, and until then, we're in a bit of a holding pattern."

U.S. job openings declined for the second month in a row in July, dropping to approximately 7.67 million from 7.91 million in June, according to the latest data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marked the lowest level of job openings since January 2021.

On Wednesday, Nvidia dropped 1.66 percent after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Justice Department issued subpoenas to the chipmaker. This decline followed a more than 9 percent fall in Nvidia's stock on Tuesday, part of a broader semiconductor pullback.

Also on Wednesday, some major tech and chip stocks rebounded. Advanced Micro Devices and Tesla saw gains of 2.87 percent and 4.18 percent, respectively. Additionally, Meta Platforms, Marvell Technology and Qualcomm also edged higher.

  - Xinhua