Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
(NYSE)
on
August
1,
2024
in
New
York
City.
Jeenah
Moon
|
Getty
Images
Stocks
fell
sharply
on
Friday
as
a
much
weaker-than-anticipated
jobs
report
for
July
ignited
worries
that
the
economy
could
be
falling
into
a
recession.
The
broad
market
index
dropped
1.84%
to
end
at
5,346.56.
The
Nasdaq
Composite
lost
2.43%
to
close
at
16,776.16,
bringing
the
decline
for
the
tech-heavy
index
from
its
recent
all-time
high
to
more
than
10%.
The Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average fell
610.71
points,
or
1.51%,
to
finish
at
39,737.26.
At
its
session
low,
the
30-stock
index
was
down
989
points.
Stocks
sank
after
July
job
growth
in
the
U.S.
slowed
more
than
expected,
while
the
unemployment
rate
rose
to
the
highest
since
October
2021.
Nonfarm
payrolls
grew
by
just
114,000
last
month,
the
Labor
Department
reported,
a
slowing
from
179,000
jobs
added
in
June
and
below
the
185,000
expected
by
economists
polled
by
Dow
Jones.
The
unemployment
rate
increased
to
4.3%.
The
10-year
Treasury
yield
fell
to
its
lowest
since
December
as
investors
flooded
into
bonds
for
safety
on
the
fear
the
Federal
Reserve
made
a
mistake
this
week
by
keeping
interest
rates
at
current
levels.
Some
megacap
names
saw
steep
losses
during
the
day,
as
Amazon‘s
second-quarter
results
sparked
investor
concerns
about
Big
Tech’s
blowout
levels
of
artificial
intelligence-related
capital
spending.
The
e-commerce
giant
slid
8.8%
after
missing
the
Street’s
revenue
estimates
and
issuing
a
disappointing
forecast.
Intel,
meanwhile,
cratered
26%
after
announcing
weak
guidance
and
layoffs.
Nvidia
lost
1.8%,
following
a
6%
loss
a
day
before.
The
Nasdaq
is
the
first
of
the
three
major
benchmarks
to
enter
correction
territory,
down
more
than
10%
from
its
record
high.
The
S&P
500
and
Dow
were
5.7%
and
3.9%
below
their
all-time
highs,
respectively.
Nasdaq
Composite
this
year.
Friday’s
declines
are
a
“natural
course”
in
a
bull
market
that
is
reverting
after
its
steep
uptrend,
LPL
Financial
chief
technical
strategist
Adam
Turnquist
said.
“[The
Nasdaq]
was
very
overbought
coming
into
July,
same
thing
with
semiconductors.
And
a
lot
of
that
AI
enthusiasm
hasn’t
really
had
a
reality
check
at
this
stage,”
he
said,
adding
that
“it’s
not
the
end
of
the
AI
story.”
But
it
was
more
than
just
technology
stocks
that
saw
selling
on
Friday.
Bank
stocks
were
slammed
on
the
recession
fears
with
Bank
of
America
off
4.9%
and
Wells
Fargo
down
6.4%.
It
has
been
a
volatile
week
with
the
S&P
500
moving
more
than
1%
in
each
of
the
past
three
trading
sessions.
The
stock
market
had
rallied
Wednesday
when
the
Fed
gave
a
strong
hint
that
a
rate
cut
was
coming
at
its
next
meeting
in
September.
After
Friday’s
weak
job
figures,
many
investors
are
starting
to
believe
the
central
bank
should
have
acted
on
Wednesday.
