WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Friday, giving back ground after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling pressure was somewhat subdued.
The major averages finished the day off their lows of the session but still in the red. The Dow slid 271.86 points or 0.5 percent to 53,414.25, the Nasdaq fell 77.07 points or 0.3 percent to 26,506.99 and the S&P 500 fell 29.11 points or 0.4 percent to 7,7718.60.
For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. While the Dow dipped by 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 inched up by 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose by 0.4 percent.
The pullback on Wall Street came amid renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the release of much stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data.
The Labor Department released a closely watched report this morning showing employment increased by much more than expected in the month of August.
The report said non-farm payroll employment surged by 162,000 jobs in August are rising by an upwardly revised 21,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to climb by 55,000 jobs compared to the loss of 23,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Treasury yields jumped in reaction to the report, as the strong data could make the Federal Reserve more comfortable about raising interest rates later this month in an effort to fight sticky inflation.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the chances the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point have bounced back to 58.4 percent after falling below 50 percent on Thursday.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as several analysts indicated the data does not make a rate hike a foregone conclusion.
'While today's labor report shifted September hike expectations sharply, the outcome is not a sure bet and additional signals that confirm inflation has peaked will make the Fed's decision to hike even tougher at the September meeting,' said Charlie Ripley, Senior Investment Strategist for Allianz Investment Management.
Traders are subsequently likely to pay particularly close attention to next week's reports on consumer and production price inflation in the month of August.
Sector News
Software stocks pulled back sharply after rallying during Thursday's session, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 2.2 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.8 percent.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks also saw notable weakness, while semiconductor stocks surged, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.4 percent.
Computer hardware and airline stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, helping limit the downside for the broader markets.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended mixed on Friday. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 1.7 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.3 percent.
The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. The German DAX Index rose by 0.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after an early slump but remained in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.2 basis points to 4.784 percent after jumping as high as 7.812 percent.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
