Stocks lost momentum and turned downward during afternoon trading on Friday, as investors pulled back after a powerful rally led by big tech names. The February jobs report also showed an uptick in the unemployment rate, bolstering investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut rates following its June meeting.
The S&P 500 trended near the flatline after logging another record close on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by close to 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% after a sharp gain the previous day.
Friday’s non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added 275,000 jobs in February, surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, its first increase in four months. Futures on the three major averages were trading in red figures ahead of the jobs data.
The market received a boost this week as Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve is close to being confident inflation is in the right place for the central bank to start bringing down borrowing costs.
In other news, policymakers from the European Central Bank are supporting a rate cut before their summer break as inflation falls faster than expected. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan officials are considering lifting rates out of the negative zone.
On the corporate front, Costco shares fell 7% after a quarterly sales miss overshadowed an earnings beat. Broadcom’s revenue beat and forecast for $10 billion in sales of AI-linked chips failed to impress investors, sending the stock over 6% lower.
In commodities, gold futures continued to rally, as spot gold eyed its biggest weekly jump in five months amid optimism for a mid-year Fed rate cut.
Additionally, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of over $70,000 before dropping back down, while Nvidia and Rivian were among the trending stocks during afternoon trading.
Overall, the stock market wobbled in afternoon trading, taking a breather after a powerful surge, with investors closely watching economic indicators and corporate earnings reports for further direction.
