US markets end lower on Friday

11 Mar 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Friday, extending their previous session’s losses, as tech-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank shut down following losses in its bond portfolio, prompting the biggest bank failure since the global financial crisis and sending shockwaves through the banking sector. Regulators took control of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, after shares tumbled Thursday and the bank struggled on Friday to find another company to buy it. Regional bank stocks tumbled in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s demise, with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF lost nearly 4.4%. For the week, the regional bank fund lost about 16%, its worst week since March 2020 as the pandemic hit.

On the economic data front, a closely watched report released by the Labor Department showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of February. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 311,000 jobs in February after spiking by a revised 504,000 jobs in January. Street had expected employment to increase by 205,000 jobs compared to the surge of 517,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The stronger than expected job growth reflected notable increases in employment in the leisure and hospitality, retail, government, and healthcare sectors. Meanwhile, decreases in employment in the information and transportation and warehousing sectors limited the upside. Despite the stronger than expected job growth, the report said the unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent in February from 3.4 percent in January. The unemployment rate was expected to be unchanged.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345.22 points or 1.07 percent to 31,909.64, Nasdaq dropped 199.47 points or 1.76 percent to 11,138.89 and S&P 500 was down by 56.73 points or 1.45 percent to 3,861.59. 

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