- US stocks gave up early gains to turn sharply lower amid more uncertainty over Europe’s energy crisis.
- Russia’s Gazprom said Friday it would keep the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline shut down due to a leak.
- Earlier, payroll data showed a gain of 315,000 last month, which largely matched economists’ forecasts.
US stocks turned lower at the close Friday as investors digested the August jobs numbers and fresh uncertainty in Europe’s energy crisis.
Early in the day, payroll data showed a gain of 315,000 jobs last month, which was close to economists’ expectations. Then, traders were hit with fresh news out of Europe, where Russia’s state-run energy giant Gazprom said it would delay the restart of the Nord Stream gas pipeline .
“Markets don’t like uncertainty, they like visibility and anchoring,” said Jeff Biemen, chief market technician at TheoTrade.
Friday’s sell-off left stocks with a third consecutive weekly loss. For the latest week, the Dow dropped 3.3%, the S&P 500 gave up 3.6%, and the Nasdaq lost 4.6%.
Here’s where US indexes stood as the market closed at 4:30 p.m. on Friday:
- S&P 500 : 3,924.26, down 1.07%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average : 31,318.44, down 1.07% (337.98)
- Nasdaq Composite : 11,630.86, down 1.31%
Economist Mohamed El-Erian said investors are finally beginning to realize that inflation will persist and that Wall Street no longer holds the Fed hostage. He added that more consistent messaging from the central bank and chief Jerome Powell has lowered market optimism for the better.
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee predicted markets could set new highs by the end of the year because falling oil prices will help bring down inflation. Lee pointed to benchmark WTI crude prices which are below pre Russia-Ukraine war levels.
Meanwhile, some of the largest hedge funds on Wall Street increased bets on Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway , with new investments in the second quarter totaling nearly $1 billion.
Oil was little changed at the close, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.30% to $86.79 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.62% to $92.91.
Gold rose 0.77% to $1,70.03 an ounce. The 10-year yield fell 6.8 basis points to 3.197%.
Bitcoin fell 0.20% to $19,869.28.
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