Stock Market Today
U.S. employers added 275,000 jobs in February.
Stocks retreated Friday as investors digested a mixed jobs report.
Tweet on the stock market today
In afternoon trading:
Stocks advanced, then lost steam. The S&P 500 fell after it hit another new record high Thursday. The Dow and Nasdaq are on track to post modest weekly losses.#stockmarkets pic.twitter.com/nZlGFccdZn— The_Journalbiz (@the_journalbiz) March 8, 2024
Factset chart
U.S. employers added 275,000 jobs in February, topping the 198,000 economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, while wage growth slowed. Recent strong readouts were revised downward.
Some analysts argued that the report shows the Federal Reserve can curb inflation without tipping the economy into a downturn. On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell the central bank wasn’t far from being able to cut interest rates.
In afternoon trading:
Stocks advanced, then lost steam. The S&P 500 fell after it hit another new record high Thursday. The Dow and Nasdaq are on track to post modest weekly losses.
Treasury yields fell after the jobs data was released. The benchmark 10-year yield was recently below late Thursday’s 4.09% level.
General Electric shares rose around 2%. JPMorgan analysts published a bullish note on GE Friday morning.
Costco tumbled after earnings. The warehouse club operator was down from a record high yesterday after it reported sales that missed Wall Street estimates.
Nvidia shares fell in a big reversal. The chipmaker’s shares traded more than 5% higher early, before swinging to a roughly 4% retreat.
Gold prices rose, continuing their record-breaking week. Bitcoin touched a new intraday high above $70,000, then slipped, though it stayed above yesterday’s 4 p.m. record of $67,754.57.
