Wall Street ends choppy day lower after jobs data

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Wall Street's main indexes ended lower on Friday in a seesaw session, as investors digested a U.S. jobs report that showed weaker-than-expected growth and awaited more economic data and corporate earnings in the weeks ahead. The U.S.

added the fewest jobs in 2-1/2 years in June, although persistently strong wage growth pointed to still-tight labor market conditions, U.S. government data showed. The benchmark S&P 500 was solidly higher for most of the afternoon, but stocks sold off toward the end of the session.

«Investors are more cautious going into a very important week with the beginning of earnings season and a very important inflation reading mid-week,» said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. The report showing nonfarm payrolls increased by 209,000 jobs last month followed a sell-off on Thursday sparked by a surge in June private payrolls that stoked fears the Federal Reserve would move aggressively to hike interest rates to tame inflation. «The jobs report today I think is consistent with what the Fed would like to see,» said Josh Jamner, investment strategy analyst at ClearBridge Investments.

«That's not to say, mission accomplished or the job is done. But continued cooling in the jobs market ultimately will make their lives easier.» On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 187.38 points, or 0.55%, to 33,734.88, the S&P 500 lost 12.64 points, or 0.29%, to 4,398.95 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.33 points, or 0.13%, to 13,660.72. Among S&P 500 sectors, defensive groups fell the most, with consumer staples down 1.3%.

Energy gained 2.1% while materials rose 0.9%. The small-cap Russell 2000 ended up 1.2% on the day. Major indexes ended with weekly losses after a strong first-half of