Gold sector still trails past peaks in market share and valuation: BofA
Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed lower Friday after retreating from record high as signs of a cooling labor market triggered recession worries, outweighing bets that the Federal Reserve will likely cut interest rates later this month.
At 4:00 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P 500 fell by 0.3%, but had swelled to a record 6,532.63. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.03%, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 220 points 0.5%.
US labor market cooling firms up rate-cut hopes, but triggers recession worries
The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than anticipated in August, possibly bolstering the case for the Fed to slash interest rates at its September 16-17 policy meeting.
Data from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that nonfarm payrolls came in at 22,000 last month, down from an upwardly-revised level of 79,000 in July. Economists had estimated that the figure would stand at 75,000.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged higher to 4.3%, up from 4.2% in the prior month and in line with forecasts.
"August employment provides further confirmation of a downshift in labor demand that began in May," Morgan Stanley said in a recent note. While the weak report stoked some fears that the Fed could be behind the curve, but Morgan Stanley said downplayed those concerns.
"We do not see the report as weak enough to justify a 50bp rate cut in September, but it opens the door to rate cuts at consecutive meetings," it added.
Broadcom shines on AI chip outlook; Docusign, Samsara beat estimates; Tesla proposes $1T compensation plan for CEO Musk
Chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) rallied on strong second-quarter results and guidance. Samsara (NYSE:IOT) and DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) gained following better-than-expected quarterly results.
Alphabet advanced, meanwhile, despite its Google unit suffering a 2.95B billion euro ($3.5B) fine for violating the European Union’s competition rules by allegedly engaging in antitrust practices.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) gained 3% after the company announced that CEO Elon Musk’s compensation plan could reach about $1 trillion if highly ambitions targets including boosting Tesla’s valuation nearly eight-fold to about $8.5T over the next decade.
(Ambar Warrick and Frank DeMatteo contributed reporting.)