2024-03-08 21:11:15
The S&P and Nasdaq fell on Friday, with the broad S&P 500 losing 0.65%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.16%.
Both swung into negative territory following climbing to all-time highs earlier in the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 68.66 points, or regarding 0.18%.
After a rocky start, the Dow Jones and Nasdaq fell 0.93% and 1.17%, respectively, on the week. The S&P 500 flashed around its weekly flat line. This might mark the 17th positive week out of the last 19 for the S&P 500, which would be the first since the 1960s.
Shares fluctuated on Friday as an earlier rally in Nvidia lost momentum, with the AI leader falling more than 5% on the day.
Despite this breathing space, shares are still up more than 6% for the week. It’s part of a monster rally that has added more than $1 trillion to stock market capitalization in the new year alone.
February jobs data gave some mixed signals regarding when it will be safe for the Fed to start cutting interest rates. For one thing, the number of jobs added last month was much more than expected, at 275,000 compared to estimates of 198,000 jobs from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. This might mean that the economy is still very hot.
But at the same time, the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 3.9% and wage growth was lower than expected, providing a glimmer of hope that the labor market has slowed enough to appease the Fed. Job growth for January was revised down.
“In short, people will be able to take whatever message they want from today’s reports,” said George Mathieu, chief investment officer at Key Bank.
He continued: “However, we believe that the data is skewed positively and should provide sufficient confidence for the Federal Reserve that a modest adjustment in interest rates is appropriate.”
Elsewhere on Friday, semiconductor maker Broadcom fell nearly 2% following issuing full-year revenue guidance that was in line with analysts’ expectations. Costco shares fell 4% on the back of quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ estimates.
- European stocks
European stocks stabilized on Friday; The rise in energy stocks was met with caution from investors ahead of important economic data from the euro zone and the United States.
The European STOXX 600 index stabilized following closing at a record high level yesterday, Thursday.
Shares of the oil and gas sector rose 0.7% thanks to the rise in crude oil prices, supported by demand growth in the United States and China, the largest consumers in the world.
On the corporate level, British packaging company Mundi’s shares lost 3.2%, while DS Smith’s shares jumped 5.7% to rise to the top of the STOXX 600 index following the former offered to buy the latter for 5.14 billion pounds ($6.58 billion).
European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villoroi de Gallo said: “Interest rates will be cut this spring, from April to June 21, which has strengthened market sentiment.”
- Japanese stocks
Japan’s Nikkei index rose on Friday, but ended the week lower for the first time in six weeks due to profit-taking, while increased bets that the Bank of Japan would shift away from ultra-easy monetary policy this month affected sentiment.
The Nikkei index ended the session up 0.2% to 39,688.94 points, down from the highest level during the day of 39,989.33 points.
The index ended the week down 0.6%, following five consecutive weekly gains, when the index jumped beyond its record high level recorded in 1989, supported by government reforms for companies and strong foreign inflows.
Momentum slowed following the index surpassed 40,000 points for the first time ever on Monday, amid profit-taking and a stronger yen on speculation that the Bank of Japan may normalize monetary policy at its meeting on March 18-19.
The automobile sector recorded a decline on Friday due to the strength of the yen. Toyota Motor stock, which is heavy on the index, lost 1.4%, Subaru stock fell 3.2%, and Suzuki Motor stock fell 2.1%. The US dollar index fell by 0.33% to 102.45 following US jobs data, and following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed greater confidence regarding lowering interest rates in the coming months. (agencies)
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