US markets end lower as labor market strength stokes rate-hike fears

07 Jul 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Wednesday's hawkish Federal Reserve minutes. Payroll processor ADP released a report showing much stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of June. ADP said private sector employment spiked by 497,000 jobs in June after jumping by a downwardly revised 267,000 jobs in May. Street had expected private sector employment to increase by 228,000 jobs compared to the addition of 278,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. While the surge in private sector employment paints a positive picture of the economy, continued strength in the labor market may convince the Fed to resume raising interest rates.

The Fed, which is due to announce its next interest rate decision later this month, has previously warned about the impact of labor market tightness. The Institute for Supply Management also released a report showing the pace of growth in the service sector accelerated by much more than expected in June. The ISM said its services PMI climbed to 53.9 in June from 50.3 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. Street had expected the index to inch up to 51.0. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 3.8 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Housing stocks also showed a significant move to the downside, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index plunging by 2.4 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 366.38 points or 1.07 percent to 33,922.26, Nasdaq dropped 112.61 points or 0.82 percent to 13,679.04 and S&P 500 was down by 35.23 points or 0.79 percent to 4,411.59.


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