Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
during
morning
trading
on
February
29,
2024
in
New
York
City.
Michael
M.
Santiago
|
Getty
Images
Futures
tied
to
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
sat
near
flat
Thursday
night
following
the
index’s
worst
session
in
over
a
year.
Investors
also
awaited
key
labor
data
due
Friday
morning.
Dow
futures
slipped
21
points,
or
0.05%.
S&P
500
futures
and
Nasdaq
100
futures
flickered
near
the
flatline.
Those
moves
follow
a
selloff
on
Wall
Street
during
Thursday’s
session.
The
Dow
tumbled
about
530
points,
or
1.35%,
marking
its
biggest
daily
drop
since
March
2023
and
its
fourth
consecutive
losing
session.
The
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq
Composite
tumbled
1.23%
and
1.4%,
respectively.
The
three
major
averages
swung
into
the
red
in
the
afternoon
as
crude
oil
jumped
and
Minneapolis
Federal
Reserve
President
Neel
Kashkari
questioned
if
interest
rates
should
come
down
amid
sticky
inflation.
The
Dow
has
led
the
three
major
indexes
down
this
week,
pacing
for
a
loss
of
3%
and
its
worst
weekly
performance
since
March
2023.
The
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq
have
each
slid
around
2%
through
Thursday’s
close.
Those
moves
mark
a
retreat
after
the
strong
first
quarter
concluded
last
week,
leading
some
market
participants
to
wonder
if
a
correction
is
warranted
following
big
gains.
“Near
term,
equities
are
likely
subject
to
some
consolidation
following
robust
first-quarter
returns,”
said
Terry
Sandven,
chief
equity
strategist
at
U.S.
Bank
Wealth
Management.
“A
modest
pullback
would
be
within
the
normal
ebb
and
flow
of
an
upward-trending
market.”
Investors
will
watch
for
the
all-important
jobs
data
coming
Friday
morning.
Economists
polled
by
Dow
Jones
anticipate
nonfarm
payrolls
growing
by
200,000
jobs
and
the
unemployment
rate
ticking
down
to
3.8%
in
March.
Average
hourly
wages,
another
closely
followed
metric,
are
expected
to
rise
by
0.3%
on
the
month
and
4.1%
from
a
year
prior.
“The
market
remains
highly
sensitive
to
any
indication
that
the
data-dependent
Fed
may
need
to
curtail
a
rate-easing
cycle
this
year,”
said
Quincy
Krosby,
LPL
Financial’s
global
chief
strategist,
citing
Kashkari’s
Thursday
comments.
“Accordingly,
the
payroll
report
will
provide
important
inflation-related
data
particularly
with
regard
to
the
pace
of
wages.”
