Stocks opened lower on Friday as Wall Street parsed through a U.S. jobs report that handily missed expectations.
The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs last month.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 198,000 jobs. Wage growth also missed estimates.
The report initially sent stock futures higher as investors interpreted the weak data as a sign the Federal Reserve could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes in the future.
But Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, said the numbers released Friday are not enough to deviate the Fed from its monetary-policy trajectory at this point. “The market is reading too much into this,” Warne said. “The report was solid, not great, but it is still enough to keep the pace on track.”
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Friday’s moves come after stocks rebounded from sharp losses on Thursday on media reports that the Fed could tighten monetary policy at a slower-than-expected pace.
The Wall Street Journal reported the central bank is considering whether to signal a wait-and-see approach to rate hikes at its upcoming meeting this month. The report said Fed officials do not know what their next move on rates will be after December. As a result, The Dow closed 79.40 points lower at 24,947.67 after plunging nearly 800 points earlier in the day.
Stocks initially fell sharply on Thursday on concern regarding U.S.-China trade relations. Investors worried about the U.S. and China striking a permanent deal on trade after news of the Huawei CFO’s arrest broke. The arrest was made on Dec. 1.
“You’ve gone from a period of zero sensitivity to headlines to a period of hypersensitivity,” said James Athey, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments. “We’re now in a world where no one knows which way is up and which way is down.”
Friday concludes what has been a volatile week for Wall Street. Both the Dow and S&P 500 were down 2.3 percent for the week through Thursday’s close, while the Nasdaq had fallen 1.9 percent.
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Source: cnbc.com | Original Link