Stocks curb losses but Nasdaq posts worst week since March

The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% in August

U.S. equity markets clawed back a large portion of their losses but finsihed lower in what was a volatile end to trading ahead of Labor Day weekend.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 41794.6 -257.59 -0.61%
HD THE HOME DEPOT INC. 395.57 +2.98 +0.76%
JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 219.79 -3.14 -1.41%
BAC BANK OF AMERICA CORP. 41.33 -0.43 -1.03%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell over 600 points intraday, lost 159 points, or 0.56%. Investors rotated out of stocks including Home Depot Inc. while buying JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp.

Financials also led the gains in the S&P 500 despite the broader index closing lower by 0.81%.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SP500 S&P 500 5712.69 -16.11 -0.28%
XLF FINANCIAL SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF 46.28 -0.36 -0.77%

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile. dropped 1.27%, as both Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc., booked gains.

Tesla shares, which briefly slid into bear-market territory, down at least 20% from their Aug. 31 peak, added 2.78%.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18179.984429 -59.93 -0.33%
AAPL APPLE INC. 222.01 -0.90 -0.40%
TSLA TESLA INC. 242.84 -6.14 -2.47%

Looking at the economy, U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 1.371 million workers in August, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8.4% from 10.2%, according to the Labor Department. Wall Street economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting the addition of 1.4 million and an unemployment rate of 9.8%.

In Silicon Valley, Alphabet Inc., Amazon Inc. and Microsoft Corp, -- three companies with a market value of greater than $1 trillion -- remained under pressure after Thursday’s bruising selloff.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GOOG ALPHABET INC. 170.68 -1.97 -1.14%
AMZN AMAZON.COM INC. 195.78 -2.15 -1.09%
MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 408.46 -1.91 -0.47%

Elsewhere, Malaysia dropped criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group after the firm last month agreed to a $3.9 billion settlement amid allegations it aided in the theft of billions of dollars from the government’s 1MDB investment fund.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GS THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. 511.47 -7.88 -1.52%

Looking at earnings, Docusign Inc. reported profit and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates and gave full-year guidance that outpaced expectations.

Gunmaker Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. reported revenue in the three months through June surged 125% to a record $277.97 million.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
DOCU DOCUSIGN INC. 69.85 -1.26 -1.77%
SWBI SMITH & WESSON BRANDS 13.56 +0.40 +3.04%

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped $1.60 to $39.77 per barrel, its biggest drop since late June, while gold was little changed at $1,923.90 an ounce.

U.S. Treasurys were lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up 9.9 basis points to 0.720%, its biggest one-day yield gain since May.

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In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.65%, while France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE slid 0.89% and 0.88%, respectively.

Asian markets finished lower across the board with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sliding 1.25%, Japan’s Nikkei declining 1.11% and China’s Shanghai Composite dropping 0.88%.