US Markets Fall After Weaker Than Expected Jobs Report
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 297.07 points or 0.73% lower, the S&P 500 fell 1.45% and Nasdaq Composite saw a 2.21% fall 10:58 a.m. EDT.
The US markets fell on Friday after it opened flat on the back of a mixed report, showing 1,42,000 jobs created in August and a slight decline in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.
The three major averages kicked off Friday's session in green, however, saw a steep fall. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 297.07 points, or 0.73% lower, the S&P 500 fell 1.45%, and the Nasdaq Composite saw a 2.21% fall at 10:58 a.m. EDT.
Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are headed for their worst week since April, according to Dow Jones Market Data. S&P 500 will head towards its longest stretch of daily declines since April 19 with its fourth-day drop.
Tesla's stock decreased 4.75% after almost seeing an 8% growth for the week. Meanwhile, Nvidia's shares fell 3.4% following a decline of over 11% in the previous two trading sessions.
In August, the US economy saw a modest increase of 1,42,000 new jobs, highlighting a significant slowdown in the labour market and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates later this month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 1,61,000.
Revisions to earlier data show that hiring in July and June was also notably weaker than previously estimated, suggesting that the US experienced its smallest job growth in the past three months since the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
"Financial markets have turned their attention toward how much the Fed will ease and how fast the economy is slowing. August data slightly relieved (for now) those concerns, as the report was better than the July labor results. The mentality of the market is now that “bad economic news is bad for the stock market." Expect the near-term volatility to continue," Scott Wren at Wells Fargo Investment Institute told Bloomberg.
The US stock index futures hovered near flat on Friday, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.21% and S&P 500 futures falling 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 20 points.
US 10-year yields were little changed on Friday morning at 3.73%.
Brent was trading near $73 per barrel on Friday, poised for one of its biggest weekly losses despite OPEC+ delayed a planned increase in output.
(With Inputs From Bloomberg)
