Wall Street stocks finished decisively lower on Friday (Sep 6) following weaker than expected US jobs growth that pointed to a slowing economy.
The lacklustre job growth “played right into the market’s worries about (economic) slowing,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, who noted that September has been a historically tepid period for equities.
After a muted opening, stocks lost ground throughout the session, finishing near lows for the day.
The broad-based S&P 500 ended at 5,408.42, down 1.7 per cent for the day and 4.2 per cent for the week.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 2.6 per cent to 16,690.83, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1 per cent to 40,345.41.
The United States, the world’s biggest economy, added an estimated 142,000 jobs last month, an increase from a poor July figure but below analysts estimates.
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Its unemployment rate meanwhile declined slightly from 4.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
The report comes as markets eye an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut. Following the data, futures markets increased the odds of a smaller 25 basis point reduction in rates instead of one twice that size.
Friday’s data was consistent with “a weakening labour market, but not weak yet”, said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
“The mood in the market has shifted towards risk off, and it’s never 100 per cent clear why markets shift their mood like this,” Sosnick said.
Among individual companies, Broadcom slumped 10.4 per cent on disappointment over the chip company’s revenue forecast. AFP
