Wall Street’s main indexes closed in the red on Friday, with selling pressure from technology stocks adding to economic fears following weak US jobs report data.
The S&P 500 closed down 1.84% at 5,346.86 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.51% to 39,737.26 and the Nasdaq Composite technology index fell 2.43% to 16,776.16, entering correction territory.
Recent losses for big tech companies worsened after disappointing results from Intel and Amazon, released late Thursday.
The chipmaker plunged 26.06% — a more than 40-year low — after announcing 15,000 layoffs and suspending its dividend; the e-commerce giant fell 8.78% after providing guidance below expectations.
Economic data reinforced the negative sentiment on Wall Street. The employment report, released on Friday, was well below expectations, with job creation standing at 114,000 in July, against an average of 215,000 in the previous 12 months, and the unemployment rate rising to 4.3% – a high of October 2021.
The nonfarm payrolls data raised fears about a U.S. economic recession, prompting many investment houses to boost forecasts for the number and size of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve by the end of the year.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
