Stocks pull back after February jobs report
Stocks lost momentum and turned downward during afternoon trading on Friday, as investors pulled back some after a powerful rally that led by big tech names. The February jobs report also showed an uptick in the unemployment rate, bolstering investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut rates following its June meeting.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) trended near the flatline after logging another record close on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) increased by close to 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 0.3% after a sharp gain the previous day.
Friday’s non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added 275,000 jobs in February, once again zooming past Wall Street expectations. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, its first increase in four months. Futures on the three major averages were trading in red figures ahead of the jobs data.
The market received a boost this week as Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers that the Federal Reserve is “not far” from being confident inflation is in the right place for the central bank to start bringing down borrowing costs.
Showing how the wind is blowing elsewhere, policymakers from the European Central Bank lined up to support a rate cut before their summer break as inflation falls faster than expected. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan officials are said to be warming to the idea of finally lifting rates out of the negative zone.
On the corporate front, Costco (COST) shares fell 7% after its quarterly sales miss overshadowed an earnings beat. Broadcom’s (AVGO) revenue beat and forecast for $10 billion in sales of AI-linked chips failed to impress investors, sending the stock over 6% lower.
In commodities, gold futures (GC=F) continued to rally, as spot gold eyed its biggest weekly jump in five months amid optimism for a mid-year Fed rate cut.
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