US stock indexes fell sharply on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading losses, as a high-expected job addition in November reignited investor concerns about the Federal Reserve continuing on its path of aggressive monetary policy tightening. Woke up from
The Labor Department’s jobs report showed non-farm payrolls rose by 263,000 compared to an estimated 200,000, as US employers hired more workers than expected in November and raised wages despite growing recession concerns .
As expected, the US unemployment rate remained unchanged.
“Strong job creation and big increases in wages underscore the Fed’s argument that much more needs to be done to get inflation under control,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING.
“Adding to the Fed’s problems, monetary conditions have loosened in recent weeks as dollar and long-term Treasury yields fell and credit spreads narrowed. This should mitigate the tightening effects of the Fed’s recent rate hikes. doing.”
He said Knightley forecast further 50-basis point rate hikes in December and February, with tightening likely needing to last longer.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets on December 13-14, capping a volatile year that saw the central bank respond to an outbreak of inflation by raising interest rates the fastest since the 1980s. Tried offsetting it with . ,
Investors now see an 87% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates by 50 basis points in December, down from 91% before Friday’s jobs data was published. fedwatch
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track to end the week higher on Wednesday after a sharp rally, prompted by comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell calling for an early December interest rate hike.
At 09:47 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 313.86 points, or 0.91%, at 34,081.15, the S&P 500 was down 46.49 points, or 1.14%, at 4,030.08 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 162.01 points, or 1.41. %, at 11,320.44.
All 11 major S&P 500 sectors declined in early trade.
Growth and technology companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp fell 1.4% and 3.1%, respectively, as Treasury yields recovered from multi-week lows, putting pressure on rate-sensitive megacap stocks.
Semiconductor company Marvell Technology Inc declined 6.8% after missing quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and 3.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 15 new highs and 40 new lows.
