Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 30, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 dropped Friday, notching its worst week since March 2023, as investors assessed the fallout from a weak August jobs report and ditched leading technology stocks.
The broad index slid 1.73% to settle at 5,408.42, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.55% to close at 16,690.83. The tech-heavy index ended the session more than 10% off its record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 410.34 points, or 1.01%, to end at 40,345.41.
“It’s a sentiment-driven move that’s largely driven by growth concerns,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “The market’s oscillating between this idea of is bad news bad news, or is bad news good news, and the sense that it may revive hopes that the Fed moves more aggressively than markets anticipate.”
Megacap tech stocks tumbled as investors dumped risk assets amid mounting worries about the health of the U.S. economy.
Amazon slid 3.7% and Alphabet slumped 4%. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms lost more than 3%. Broadcom shed 10% on lackluster current-quarter guidance. Other semiconductor names fell in sympathy, with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices dropping about 4% each. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) declined 4% and posted its worst week since March 2020.
Friday’s moves closed out a rocky week for equity markets. The S&P 500 registered a 4.3% decline and its worst week since March 2023. The Nasdaq shed 5.8% for its worst week since 2022, while the 30-stock Dow has slumped 2.9%.
Fresh August jobs data added fuel to concerns of a slowing labor market. A bout of weak data has sparked worries about the health of the economy, spooking markets and denting risk appetite in recent weeks. Nonfarm payrolls grew by 142,000, versus a 161,000 gain expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. However, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2%, in line with expectations.
“The market in general is looking for direction, and that’s going to come from the Federal Reserve,” said Charles Ashley, portfolio manager at Catalyst Capital Advisors.
Investors widely expect the Fed to cut rates by at least a quarter-percentage point at the conclusion of its policy meeting later this month, but softening labor market trends have boosted bets that the central bank could go bigger. Traders are split on whether the Fed will cut by a quarter- or half-percentage point, according to CME Group FedWatch Tool.
