(Adds dropped word "NYSE" in paragraph 17)
* VIX hits more than 11-week high
* August nonfarm payrolls rise less than expected
* Stay-at-home stocks lose ground again
* Banks, airlines stocks in a bright spot
* Indexes down: Dow 1.07%, S&P 1.39%, Nasdaq 2.28%
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 4 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq was on track for its worst
two-day fall since March on Friday as investors dumped
heavyweight technology stocks, while concerns around a patchy
economic recovery also hit the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell as much as 9.9% from Wednesday's
all-time record high and the S&P 500 dipped briefly below its
February peak.
Mega-cap companies Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Inc
MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Facebook Inc FB.O , were
down between 1.9% and 3.6%.
"It's just position squaring ... not surprising since we've
seen a pretty sizable run up in the tech space in the last three
or four weeks," said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio strategist at
Natixis Investment Managers in Greater Boston Area.
Losses were more pronounced in the Nasdaq, which have
powered the stock market's stellar recovery from the
coronavirus-led crash, climbing as much as 82% from March lows.
The benchmark S&P 500 and Dow have surged about 60% from their
troughs.
Earlier in the day, the Labor Department's closely watched
employment report showed jobless rate fell to 8.4% from 10.2% in
July, steeper than economists' forecast of 9.8%. Nonfarm
payrolls, however, increased less than expected last month.
The data added pressure on the White House and Congress to
restart stalled negotiations over the next coronavirus relief
package to lift the economy out of the worst recession since the
Great Depression.
Technology .SPLRCT , communication services .SPLRCL and
consumer discretionary indexes .SPLRCD posted the steepest
percentage declines among the major S&P sectors.
Underperforming value stocks including banks .SPXBK and
airlines .SPCOMAIR rose between 1.0% and 1.6%. Both the
indexes are down more than 30% this year.
"There are segments of the cyclical trade that you might be
starting to see some rotation in to, but I don't think it's the
big picture value-growth trade reversal yet," Janasiewicz said.
Fund managers warned Thursday's declines may be a preview of
a rocky two months ahead as institutional investors return from
summer vacations and refocus on potential economic pitfalls.
The run-up to the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election is also
expected to add to the volatility.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX hit a more than 11-week high
earlier in the session.
At 12:58 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 303.91 points, or 1.07%, at 27,988.82 and the S&P 500
.SPX was down 48.08 points, or 1.39%, at 3,406.98. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 261.35 points, or 2.28%, at
11,196.75.
The S&P 500 and Dow were headed for their worst two-day
decline since mid-June.
Broadcom Inc AVGO.O gained 3.5% after the Apple Inc
AAPL.O supplier forecast fourth-quarter revenue above
analysts' estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.26-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 2.76-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 84 new lows.
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Growth stocks' record dominance on Wall Street https://tmsnrt.rs/3325kcV
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