US markets extend losses on Friday

07 May 2022 Evaluate

The US markets extended their previous session’s losses and ended lower on Friday. The lower close on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of April. The report showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 428,000 jobs in April, matching the revised jump seen in March. Street had expected employment to climb by 391,000 jobs compared to the addition of 431,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.6 percent versus expectations the rate would edge down to 3.5 percent. With the report showing continued strength in the labor market, the Federal Reserve will continue with its plans to raise interest rates relatively sharply over the coming months. Worries about the outlook for interest rates may have weighed on Wall Street along with a continued increase in treasury yields.

On the sectoral front, airline stocks moved sharply lower on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plummeting by 3.1 percent to a nearly two-month closing low. Substantial weakness was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent plunged by NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index ended the session at its lowest closing level in over two years. Brokerage, networking and retail stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, adding to the steep losses posted in the previous session. On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, benefiting from a notable increase by the price of crude oil.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 98.60 points or 0.30 percent to 32,899.37, Nasdaq dropped 173.03 points or 1.40 percent to 12,144.66 and S&P 500 was down by 23.53 points or 0.57 percent to 4,123.34. 

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