US Indexes Close Lower Friday After Jobs Report
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21,052.53 on Friday with a loss of 360.91 points or -1.69%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,488.65 for a loss of 38.25 points or -1.51%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,373.08 for a loss of 114.23 points or -1.53%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 47.07 for a loss of 3.84 points or -7.54%.
For the week, the Dow Jones was down 2.6%, the S&P 500 was down 2.0% and the Nasdaq was down 1.7%. For the year, the Dow Jones is down 26%, the S&P 500 is down 23% and the Nasdaq is down 18%.
Friday's market movers
Stocks were lower Friday with several detractors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' March jobs report showed a payrolls decrease of 701,000 and the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%. Readings on services also came in significantly lower for March.
The Paycheck Protection Program rollout was also a disappointment for investors. After the Treasury's release of the program's guidelines Thursday, few banks were opting in. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was the only bank to open up for applications Friday, receiving over 30,000. Other large banks say they plan to get involved with somewhat slower launches. Fintechs, however, may not be as willing to join in the program due to the very low profit margins.
In the energy market, the S&P 500 energy sector was down only 1.06%. Investors and industry executives are looking forward to a virtual OPEC+ meeting on Monday, which will also involve discussions with outside producers on possible production cuts.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
Non-farm payrolls decreased 701,000 in March, missing the estimate of -150,000. The unemployment rate increased to 4.4%, slightly higher than the estimate of 4%.
Private non-farm payrolls decreased by 713,000.
Manufacturing payrolls decreased by 18,000.
Government payrolls increased by 12,000.
Average hourly earnings increased 0.4%. Year over year, average hourly earnings increased 3.1%.
Average weekly hours decreased to 34.2 from 34.4.
The participation rate fell slightly to 62.7% from 63.4%.
The Markit Composite PMI decreased to 40.9 in March from 49.6.
The Markit Services PMI decreased to 39.8 in March from 49.4.
The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI decreased to 52.5 in March from 57.3. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index decreased to 48 from 57.8, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index decreased to 50 from 50.8, the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index decreased to 52.9 from 63.1 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index decreased to 47 from 55.6.
The Baker Hughes North American oil rig count decreased to 705 from 782.
In the S&P 500, utilities, materials and financials led losses. In the S&P 100, the following stocks led losses for the day:
FedEx (NYSE:FDX) -7.03%
Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) -6.13%
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) -5.83%
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) -5.60%
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) -5.21%
Citigroup (NYSE:C) -5.20%
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) -5.14%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,052.05 for a loss of 33.76 points or -3.11%. The S&P 600 closed at 622.35 for a loss of 22.94 points or -3.55%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 7,083.38 for a loss of 194.35 points or -2.67%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 5,282.97 for a loss of 232.47 points or -4.21%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,337.95 for a loss of 37.40 points or -2.72%; the S&P 100 at 1,151.57 for a loss of 16.94 points or -1.45%; the Nasdaq 100 at 7,528.11 for a loss of 107.54 points or -1.41%; the Russell 3000 at 1,425.08 for a loss of 24.44 points or -1.69%; the Russell 1000 at 1,359.02 for a loss of 22.12 points or -1.60%; the Wilshire 5000 at 24,887.12 for a loss of 469.46 points or -1.85%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 496.53 for a loss of 12.99 points or -2.55%.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
