US close: Stocks lower after mixed non-farm payroll report

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Sharecast News | 08 Mar, 2024

Updated : 23:18

US stocks declined on Friday, with the S&P 500 pulling back from record highs, after mixed jobs data that showed a big gain in non-farm payrolls, but downward revisions to previous figures, a slowdown in wage growth and a jump in the jobless rate.

The S&P 500 declined 0.65% from Thursday's fresh closing peak of 5,157.36, while the Dow fell 0.18% and the Nasdaq tumbled 1.16% – with the latter having risen particularly strongly the previous session.

February's non-farm payrolls report showed a 275,000-person gain, well ahead of the consensus forecast of 195,000, albeit with large downwards revisions to previous months' data. Readings for December and January were revised down by a combined -167,000 to 290,000 and 229,000, respectively.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, which was derived from a different survey than the one that generates the payrolls figures, increased by two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.7%. Meanwhile, Average hourly earnings rose by a less-than-expected 0.1% after a 0.6% increase in January.

"Alongside the rise in the unemployment rate to a two-year high and a much weaker rise in wages, there is less reason now to be concerned that renewed labour market strength will drive inflation higher again," said Andrew Hunter, deputy chief US economist at Capital Economics. "The decline in the job quits rate to below its pre-pandemic level suggests wage growth will slow a lot further over the coming months."

Meanwhile, economist Nancy Vanden Houten from Oxford Economics said the higher-than-expected headline reading was not "[not] strong enough to change our call for the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates in May, as other aspects were weaker than expected, including more subdued growth in earnings, a decline in employment in the household survey, and a rise in the unemployment rate."

Broadcom drags chip stocks lower

Broadcom and Marvell Technology were dampening sentiment in the chip sector on Friday with both underwhelming with their quarterly results. Intel, Microchip and Nvidia all finished with heavy losses.

The larger of the two, Broadcom, fell despite its first-quarter report beating forecasts, as it left its full-year guidance unchanged, likely disappointing investors following the recent rally in the shares. Smaller peer Marvell meanwhile missed profit estimates for its first quarter badly.

Wholesaler giant Costco was also weaker after missing forecasts with its quarterly sales figures, with revenues of $58.44bn missing the $59.16bn market estimate.

Dow Jones - Risers

3M Co. (MMM) $93.92 1.38%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.50 1.23%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $21.16 1.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $170.73 1.02%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $99.17 0.99%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $305.28 0.95%
Visa Inc. (V) $280.04 0.64%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $292.55 0.49%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $159.45 0.41%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $149.88 0.34%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.00 -4.66%
Boeing Co. (BA) $198.49 -2.24%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $373.35 -0.85%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $406.22 -0.71%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $56.61 -0.58%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $476.57 -0.46%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $218.47 -0.43%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $60.12 -0.40%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $123.53 -0.40%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $386.99 -0.37%

S&P 500 - Risers

Gap Inc. (GPS) $20.92 8.23%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.83 5.20%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $16.37 4.53%
Macy's Inc. (M) $21.15 3.98%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $38.92 3.95%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $150.60 2.83%
NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) $57.82 2.77%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $223.70 2.56%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $127.47 2.51%
Public Storage (PSA) $293.18 2.46%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $725.56 -7.64%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $1,308.72 -6.99%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $875.28 -5.55%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.91 -4.87%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $88.84 -4.82%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $273.11 -4.67%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.00 -4.66%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $956.65 -3.81%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $118.33 -3.53%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $699.21 -3.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $1.36 7.54%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $24.75 3.17%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $9.26 2.43%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $17.36 2.42%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $18.17 2.25%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $42.58 2.01%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $75.12 1.98%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $223.24 1.77%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $135.78 1.76%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $60.02 1.68%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $725.56 -7.64%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $1,308.72 -6.99%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $875.28 -5.55%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $994.33 -5.07%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $88.84 -4.82%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.00 -4.66%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $956.65 -3.81%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $699.21 -3.33%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $205.56 -3.32%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $308.60 -2.97%

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