Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 1, 2024 in New York City.
Jeenah Moon | Getty Images
Stocks fell sharply on Friday as a much weaker-than-anticipated jobs report for July ignited worries that the economy could be falling into a recession.
The broad market index dropped 1.84% to end at 5,346.56. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.43% to close at 16,776.16, bringing the decline for the tech-heavy index from its recent all-time high to more than 10%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 610.71 points, or 1.51%, to finish at 39,737.26. At its session low, the 30-stock index was down 989 points.
Stocks sank after July job growth in the U.S. slowed more than expected, while the unemployment rate rose to the highest since October 2021. Nonfarm payrolls grew by just 114,000 last month, the Labor Department reported, a slowing from 179,000 jobs added in June and below the 185,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate increased to 4.3%.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to its lowest since December as investors flooded into bonds for safety on the fear the Federal Reserve made a mistake this week by keeping interest rates at current levels.
Some megacap names saw steep losses during the day, as Amazon's second-quarter results sparked investor concerns about Big Tech's blowout levels of artificial intelligence-related capital spending. The e-commerce giant slid 8.8% after missing the Street's revenue estimates and issuing a disappointing forecast. Intel, meanwhile, cratered 26% after announcing weak guidance and layoffs. Nvidia lost 1.8%, following a 6% loss a day before.
The Nasdaq is the first of the three major benchmarks to enter correction territory, down more than 10% from its record high. The S&P 500 and Dow were 5.7% and 3.9% below their all-time highs, respectively.
Nasdaq Composite this year.
Friday's declines are a "natural course" in a bull market that is reverting after its steep uptrend, LPL Financial chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist said.
"[The Nasdaq] was very overbought coming into July, same thing with semiconductors. And a lot of that AI enthusiasm hasn't really had a reality check at this stage," he said, adding that "it's not the end of the AI story."
But it was more than just technology stocks that saw selling on Friday. Bank stocks were slammed on the recession fears with Bank of America off 4.9% and Wells Fargo down 6.4%.
It has been a volatile week with the S&P 500 moving more than 1% in each of the past three trading sessions. The stock market had rallied Wednesday when the Fed gave a strong hint that a rate cut was coming at its next meeting in September. After Friday's weak job figures, many investors are starting to believe the central bank should have acted on Wednesday.
