US STOCKS-Slowing job growth, stimulus worries weigh on Nasdaq

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* U.S. economy added 1.76 mln jobs in July - report
* Stimulus meeting ends on Friday with no deal
* Trump moves to ban WeChat, TikTok, amps up friction with
Beijing

(Updates to market close, adds analyst comments)
By Chuck Mikolajczak and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq closed lower on
Friday, as data showed a sharp slowdown in U.S. employment
growth and investors worried lawmakers would not be able to
agree on another fiscal stimulus bill to bolster the economy
from a coronavirus-induced recession.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones index ended flat to slightly
higher on the day.
With the benchmark S&P 500 index now about 1.5% below its
record high, defensive sectors including utilities .SPLRCU and
real estate .SPLRCR were among the gainers. Tech-related
.SPLRCT stocks, which have fueled a Wall Street rally since
March, posted the biggest declines and helped push the Nasdaq
down more than 1% during the session.
Along the same line, value names, which have been unable to
close the performance gap with growth stocks in recent years,
advanced. The S&P 500 value index .IVX rose, while the S&P 500
growth index .IGX fell.
The U.S. Labor Department's closely watched report showed
nonfarm payrolls increased 1.76 million in July, much lower than
the record 4.8 million in June. However, the figure still topped economists' expectations
and analysts said it could take the pressure off Congress to
agree on a relief bill after weeks of wrangling. Differences
have partly centered around continuing an extra $600-per-week in
unemployment benefits. Congressional Democrats on Friday offered to reduce a
proposed coronavirus aid package by $1 trillion if Republicans
would add a trillion to their counter-offer, but President
Donald Trump's negotiators rejected the idea on Friday as the
latest round of talks ended without a deal. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the
meeting with Republicans disappointing and House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said an agreement on stimulus seemed unlikely, with
differences still largely unresolved. "The bottom line reality is that unemployment is through the
roof with respect to historical averages, we are still in a
pandemic with no cure and the politicians have promised another
$1 trillion or more to the American public," said Mike Zigmont,
head of Trading at Harvest Volatility Management in New York.
"It would be political suicide if they don't deliver that,"
he added.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
51.17 points, or 0.19%, to 27,438.15, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
2.23 points, or 0.07%, to 3,351.39 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 97.09 points, or 0.87%, to 11,010.98.
The declines snapped the Nasdaq's seven-session streak of
gains, with the Dow and S&P falling after rising for five
straight days. Each of the three major averages posted weekly
gains.
With the second-quarter corporate earnings season largely
over, about 82% of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far
have beaten dramatically lowered estimates, with earnings on
average coming in 22.5% above expectations, the highest on
record.
T-Mobile US Inc TMUS.O jumped as it added
more-than-expected monthly phone subscribers and said it had
overtaken rival AT&T Inc T.N as the second-largest U.S.
wireless provider. The stock was the biggest gainer on the S&P
communication services index .SPLRCL . Uber UBER.N fell as demand for its ride-hailing trips only
marginally recovered from pandemic rock-bottom in the second
quarter, even as its food-delivery segment saw double the
orders. Meanwhile, Trump late on Thursday unveiled sweeping bans on
U.S. transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app
WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok. In response, China said the
companies complied with U.S. laws and warned Washington would
have to "bear the consequences" of its action. King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset
Management in San Francisco, said investors were worried about
China's "potential retaliation" against U.S. actions.
New York-listed Tencent Music Entertainment Group TME.N ,
which was spun off from WeChat-owner Tencent Holdings Ltd
0700.HK in 2018, fell, while Facebook Inc FB.O jumped.
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , which is seeking to buy TikTok's
U.S. operations, also dropped. U.S.-listed Chinese stocks such
as Baidu Inc BIDU.O , Alibaba Group Holding BABA.N and JD.com
Inc JD.O also declined.