Market close: Stocks are down on Friday; labour data comes up short
By Joseph Toppe
20:39, 8 October 2021
The major US indices closed Friday’s session in small declines as investors digest the Department of Labor’s lackluster jobs report.
At the close of trading, the S&P 500 was 0.2% lower after rising for three straight sessions and ending Thursday up 0.8%.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank eight points, or less than 0.1%.
For the week, the S&P 500 is up 0.8%, the Dow is 1.2% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 0.1%.
Employment misfires last month
The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, falling below Wall Street predictions as investors eye the Federal Reserve’s cutback to its asset buying programme.
But the blip in hiring is unlikely to bend the Fed's schedule for a “taper” to its emergency market support program, one expert said.
A report issued by the US Department of Labor showed nonfarm payroll employment came up more than 300,000 jobs short of Wall Street expectations. Economists and market analysts predicted 500,000 new positions would be added over the month in this sector alone.
While the job data did not meet expert predictions, the US unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% from 5.2% as notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, transportation and warehouse work.
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Friday’s winners
Shares for Walmart rose 0.30% to $139.66, shares for Alphabet rose 0.40% to $2,795.71, and shares for eBay jumped 1.19% to $75.05.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US oil benchmark, topped $80 per barrel for the first time since 2014.
Shares for Exxon Mobil jumped 2.5%, shares for Chevron improved by 2.2%, while shares for ConocoPhillips surged 4.8% higher.
In assets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note went higher than 1.6% in trading Friday.
On Monday, the bond market is closed for Columbus Day, while the stock market will be open.
Global markets
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%, while in Asia, Mainland China’s markets reopened after the Golden Week holiday.
The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.6% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 went 1.3% higher.
Read more: US jobs miss not likely to delay Fed’s ‘taper’, expert says
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