The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading lower Friday afternoon, as U.S. stocks fell after an unexpectedly strong surge in January nonfarm payrolls and disappointing earnings from a trio of tech-related corporate heavyweights.How are stocks trading?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.68%
fell almost 143 points, or 0.4%, to around 33,911, after sliding 220 points at its session low.
The S&P 500
SPX,
-1.34%
was down 39 points, or 0.9%, at about 4,141.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-1.89%
shed 154 points, or 1.3%, to 12,047.
For the week, the Dow erased its earlier gain and was on track to slip 0.2%, according to FactSet data, at last check. The S&P 500 was on pace to rise 1.7% for the week, while the Nasdaq was heading for a 3.7% weekly gain.
What’s driving markets? Stocks are choppy Friday as investors digest a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January, far exceeding economist expectations for a rise of 187,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, its lowest since 1969. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3%, in line with expectations. See: U.S. jobs report shows blowout 517,000 gain in employment in January Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab, said by phone Friday that he wasn’t surprised to see stocks dip at the open, as the strong jobs report may have initially worried investors that the Federal Reserve might need to become more aggressive hiking interest rates to cool the economy as it keeps up its fight with high inflation. “What’s more surprising is how much equities have rebounded since the open,” he said. “There’s such a huge appetite out there to get into this market,” said Frederick. “I’m quite shocked by the amount of momentum that’s out there.”
…