Wall Street Extends Slide Amid Fed Woes

Wall Street came under significant selling pressure again on Friday as traders cited worries about when the Fed will end its vast easing program.

As of 12:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 92.8 points, or 0.56%, to 16471, the S&P 500 dipped 10 points, or 0.52%, to 1921 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 34.3 points, or 0.78%, to 4336.

It's "Jobs Friday," one of the most important days of the month on the economy front, when the Labor Department publishes its snapshot of the U.S. labor market. But the spotlight is shining brightly on the Federal Reserve.

"Risk markets might just be entering their own 'difficult' phase, given that with each passing Fed meeting, markets move closer to the end of QE (and the eventual start of actual tightening), which has traditionally hurt financial assets in the risk spectrum more than (U.S. Treasury Bonds)," analysts at Nomura wrote to clients Friday.

Several other analysts echoed that sentiment, saying the end of the Fed's massive bond-buying program could spark considerable turbulence for the markets. That feeling has been coupled with rising prices, and decreased slack in the labor market.

The Labor Department said the U.S. economy tacked on 209,000 jobs in July, below consensus estimates of a gain of 233,000 jobs. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, ticked higher to 6.2% from 6.1% the month prior, where it was expected to remain. The labor force participation rate also rose to 62.9% from 62.8% in June.

The other key report on the economic calendar is a look at American factory conditions from the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM PMI gauge is expected to tick up to 56 in July from 55.3 the month prior, suggesting the pace of growth probably picked up slightly. However, data on the Midwestern manufacturing sector released on Thursday widely missed estimates.

Traders will also pay close attention to monthly sales figures from the Big Three U.S. automakers. Auto sales are not subject to revisions, and provide a timely indicator of the strength of the American consumer.

Chrysler, which is completing its merger with Italy's Fiat (NYSE:FIATY), saw its U.S. sales surge 20% in the best July performance since 2005. Ford (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) are expected to release figures later in the day.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures slumped 66 cents, or 0.67%, to $97.51 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline dipped 0.24% to $2.791 a gallon. Gold rose $1.70, or 0.13%, to $1,285 a troy ounce.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed 0.017 percentage point to 2.577%.