WALL Street stocks were under pressure for a third straight session on Thursday after digesting mixed economic data while it looks ahead to a key labour market report.
Stocks “struggled to get traction ahead of a very important jobs report tomorrow,” said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones. “Investors are cautious of taking on more risk given the market’s sensitivity of what we might learn tomorrow.”
Friday’s Department of Labor data comes as other data suggest a US economy that is slowing but not necessarily heading into a recession; a weak jobs report could challenge that view.
Analysts have estimated that Friday’s jobs data will show the US economy added 165,000 jobs while unemployment will dip slightly to 4.2 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Thursday down 0.5 per cent at 40,755.75.
The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.3 per cent to 5,503.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 17,127.66.
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Data released Thursday from payroll firm ADP showed private sector employment rose by 99,000 in August, well below the 150,000 estimated by analysts.
Meanwhile the Institute for Supply Management’s services index crept up to 51.5 per cent last month from 51.4 per cent in July, slightly topping estimates.
Among individual companies, Frontier Communications Parent fell 9.5 per cent on Thursday after agreeing to be acquired by Verizon for US$20 billion.
Verizon, which said Frontier’s fiber internet assets will enhance its broadband capacity, dipped 0.4 per cent.
Tesla jumped 4.9 per cent after announcing plans to launch its “full self-driving” technology in Europe and China early next year, pending regulatory approval.
JetBlue advanced 7.2 per cent as it lifted its third-quarter revenue target, citing strong bookings, particularly in the Latin America region, and a boost due to rebookings from a rival carrier that experienced technology outages. AFP
