Nasdaq Posting Steep Loss In Mid-Day Trading, Dow, S&P 500 Little Changed

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq has shown another steep drop during trading on Friday, the Dow and the S&P 500 have spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. The Nasdaq fell to its lowest intraday level in almost three months earlier in the session.

Currently, the Nasdaq is well off its worst levels of the day but remains down 144.98 points or 1.1 percent at 12,578.49. The S&P 500 is down 3.84 points or 0.1 percent at 3,764.63, while the Dow is up 60.44 points or 0.2 percent at 30,984.58.

The volatility on Wall Street comes after the Labor Department released a report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of February.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 379,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 166,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 182,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 49,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The stronger than expected job growth was primarily due to a rebound in employment in the leisure and hospitality industry, which added 355,000 jobs.

The report also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 6.2 percent in February from 6.3 percent in January. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.

The modest decrease pulled the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since hitting 4.4 percent last March, when coronavirus-related lockdowns began to take effect.

The strong jobs data is an upbeat sign for the economy, but traders are also paying close attention to the reaction in the bond markets.

Yields initially jumped in reaction to the jobs report, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching a one-year high above 1.6 percent.

The ten-year yield has given back some ground since then but remains at a relatively elevated level, adding to recent concerns about inflation and higher interest rates.

Sector News

Airline stocks are turning in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, resulting in a 5.5 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Substantial weakness has also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.

Networking stocks have also shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.4 percent to a nearly two-month intraday low.

Retail, biotechnology, and banking stocks are also seeing notable weakness in mid-day trading, while oil stocks continue to see considerable strength amid another sharp increase by the price of crude oil.

After spiking $2.55 to $63.83 a barrel on Thursday, crude for April delivery is surging up $2.02 to $65.85 a barrel after OPEC and its allies agreed to extend production cuts.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed well off their worst levels but continue to see modest weakness. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.1 basis points at 1.561 percent.

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