In this June 16, 2021 file photo, people walk on Broadway at Wall Street in New York. Stocks were falling Friday, Sept. 3, after a critical report on U.S. hiring showed employers created far fewer jobs than expected. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
By Alex Veiga
Major stock indexes on Wall Street closed mostly lower Friday, though a rally in Big Tech companies nudged the Nasdaq to another all-time high.
The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% a day after notching a record high. The benchmark index still managed its second straight weekly gain. Losses in financial, industrial and utilities companies outweighed gains in technology stocks and other sectors of the S&P 500. Energy prices mostly fell. Gold and silver rose. Treasury yields were mixed.
“Investors are saying, ‘looks like this transition from reopening to a reopened economy is going to take a little bit longer,’” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
The S&P 500 slipped 1.52 points to 4,535.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.73 points, or 0.2%, to 35,369.09. The Nasdaq composite rose 32.34 points, or 0.2%, to 15,363.52, its third straight gain. The technology-heavy index also posted a weekly gain.
The indexes’ moves were mostly muted ahead of a long holiday weekend. U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday for Labor Day.
Investors focused Friday on a key barometer of economic health: the Labor Department's monthly snapshot of hiring by nonfarm companies. The report found that America’s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring, at a time when the coronavirus' highly contagious delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out.
The August job gains fell far short of the big gains in June and July of roughly 1 million a month. Those gains followed widespread vaccinations that allowed the easing of many pandemic restrictions.
Technology stocks did particularly well last year during the pandemic, so it was unsurprising to see traders move back into those investments again. Broadcom and NetApp each rose 1% or more.
Travel companies took some of the heaviest losses. Carnival Corp. slid 4.4% for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. Rival Royal Caribbean fell 4.2%. Las Vegas Sands, Marriott International and Wynn Resorts also fell.
Friday's weak jobs report could actually benefit stock investors over the longer run. The Federal Reserve has indicated it might begin winding down its bond purchases of $120 billion a month that pump money into the financial system until they have more data that the U.S. recovery is on solid footing. The report may help prompt Fed policymakers to delay those plans.
Bond yields moved higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.32% from 1.30% the day before.
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
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At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
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