S&P 500 Dipped 0.32% as Stock Market Trends Down
Stocks were down on Friday as the market closed off for the week, with the decline caused by a poor Nonfarm Payroll report.
Quick overview
- U.S. stocks ended the week lower, with the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Dow Jones down 0.48%, while the Nasdaq remained relatively stable.
- The decline was influenced by a disappointing Nonfarm Payrolls report, which showed only 22,000 new jobs added in August compared to the expected 75,000.
- Solidion Technology experienced a significant drop of over 13% as it retreated from recent highs, despite previous praise for its battery technology advancements.
- On a positive note, Alphabet's stock rose by 1.16% following favorable news regarding its antitrust lawsuit.
U.S. stocks ended the week in decline, with the S&P 500 falling 0.3% and the Dow Jones dipping 0.48%. Only the Nasdaq stayed mostly stable with a drop of just 0.03%.
Stocks were bearish as last week closed off, and they could continue to decline as trading starts for Monday. Top tech stocks performed poorly for the last day of trading for the week, including Nvidia (NVDA), which fell 2.70%, and Solidion Technology, which lost more than 13%.
Solidion was in steep decline as it retreated from its recent high. The tech company had been praised for its advances in battery technology, but the too high, too fast stock movement resulted in a sharp drop off by the end of the week.
Nonfarm Payrolls to Blame for Bearish Market
Why was the stock market in decline on Friday? The Nonfarm Payrolls report released on Friday morning and showed that while the job market is growing with 22,000 new jobs added in August, the numbers are not nearly as high as expected. Analysts were looking for around 75,000 new jobs, so August’s numbers were definitely a disappointment.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States published the report that showed that hiring was down compared to the previous months. At the same time, unemployment increased, up 4.3%. That accounts for little change from the month before, but that small increase was enough to bring unemployment to its highest point in two years.
The report also showed that labor force participation rate was up 62.3%, which helps to mellow out the overall numbers and create a slightly better picture of the economy. In some markets, jobs are growing, as the report demonstrated, but the growth is weaker than what was anticipated.
This overall weak jobs report was enough to throw the stock market off and cause a decline as the week closed out. As the report is processed, we may see a slight uptick on Monday when the market opens. However, we expect that the ground lost on Friday will not be regained soon.
The good news is that the stage is set for an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. We may see one approved on September 17th, which is when the next rate meeting will be held.
Not all of the major stocks were in bear mode on Friday, though. Alphabet (GGOGL) added 1.16% after a decent showing for the week. The company has enjoyed a stock surge thanks to good news for its ongoing antitrust lawsuit. Alp[habit will be allowed to keep Android and Google, according to the latest decision, but there are still some aspects of the case to be decided. This big win helped propel GOOGL stock higher than most other tech stocks last week.
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