US stocks curb losses as investors weigh jobs report, future Fed cut
U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, well off the worst levels of the session, after the better than expected monthly non-farm jobs report for June.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted marginal losses to end the week.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43389.6 | -55.39 | -0.13% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5893.62 | +23.00 | +0.39% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18791.806377 | +111.69 | +0.60% |
Investors debated whether the chances of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve diminished after U.S. employers added 224,000 jobs in July, blowing past expectations. While the unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 3.7 percent, economists explained the rise a sign of demand as more workers resumed their job search based on a rise in Labor Force participation stats tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Even with the modest declines on Friday, all three of major market averages hit fresh records on Wednesday heading into the July 4th holiday.
Diving into sector performance, chipmakers were mixed after Samsung Electronics forecast a steep plunge in its second-quarter operating profit.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QCOM | QUALCOMM INC. | 164.50 | +4.00 | +2.49% |
| INTC | INTEL CORP. | 24.84 | +0.49 | +2.01% |
| AMD | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. | 138.93 | +4.03 | +2.99% |
Investors are also on deal watch in the enterprise sector. Bloomberg was first to report that Broadcom is on the hunt for an acquisition, eyeing Symantec.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVGO | BROADCOM INC. | 165.67 | +0.83 | +0.50% |
| SYMC | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
In Asian markets on Friday, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.2 percent on the day and 1.1 percent for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded lower by 0.1 percent, but up 0.8 percent for the week. Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.2 percent and added 2.2 percent for a fifth straight week of gains.
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European markets closed lower. London's FTSE slipped 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX is down 0.5 percent and France's CAC was down 0.5 percent.
FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report.