US markets end lackluster trade mostly in red

04 Sep 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended lackluster trade mostly in red on Friday with traders showing some uncertainty about the repercussions of the Labor Department's monthly jobs. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high. The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report, which showed much weaker than expected job growth in the month of August. The report suggests the delta variant of the coronavirus is weighing on the labor market, although the data could also lead the Federal Reserve to push back its plans to begin scaling back stimulus. Fed officials have indicated inflation has reached their target but they need to see further improvement in the labor market before they begin tapering asset purchases and raising interest rates.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 235,000 jobs in August after soaring by an upwardly revised 1.053 million jobs in July. Street had expected employment to jump by about 750,000 jobs compared to the spike of 943,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Despite the much weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in August from 5.4 percent in July, matching street estimates. Meanwhile, separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector growth slowed from a record pace in the month of August. The ISM said its services PMI fell to 61.7 in August after reaching an all-time high of 64.1 in July, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Street had expected the index to drop to 61.5.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 74.73 points or 0.21 percent to 35,369.09 and S&P 500 was down by 1.52 points or 0.03 percent to 4,535.43, while Nasdaq rose 32.34 points or 0.21 percent to 15,363.52.

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