Stock market today: Wall Street falls again, completing its first week of losses in four years | national business

NEW YORK (`) – Stocks fell on Friday, ending a week of rare losses for Wall Street after mixed reports on the U.S. jobs market and two of the market’s most influential stocks.

The S&P 500 was down 23.86, or 0.5%, at 4,478.03. It was the fourth straight decline for Wall Street’s key health indicator after hitting a 16-month high earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the day before ending in a loss. It fell 150.27 points, or 0.4%, to 35,065.62 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 50.48, or 0.4%, to 13,909.24.

Treasury yields slumped in the bond market after a much-anticipated US jobs report said hiring figures last month came in slightly weaker than economists had expected, even though workers’ wages rose more than forecast.

The job market is in a precarious state, and investors want a reading that’s neither too hot nor too cold. On the one hand, investors want the country to remain strong enough to keep the economy out of a long-predicted recession. On the other hand, they don’t want wage growth in particular to be so strong that the Federal Reserve sees upward pressure on inflation.

Friday’s numbers weren’t a big hit for either side, but analysts said it could indicate a slowdown in the job market.

“Over the last year, the labor market has shifted from a win-win market to a market with many vulnerabilities,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “Wage growth has been stronger than expected, but coupled with shorter working weeks you get lower wages. Fed officials will see what they want to see, but it’s pretty clear that manufacturing is struggling and services are lagging.”

If the labor market weakens further, inflation could cool further from the peak reached last summer. That, in turn, would boost Wall Street hopes that the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates.

High interest rates have a negative impact on inflation by slowing down the overall economy and depressing investment prices. The Fed has already raised its interest rate to its highest level in more than two decades, from virtually zero early last year.

But critics say it’s far from certain that inflation can easily fall back on the Fed’s target and the economy avoid a painful recession. That’s why they say the S&P 500’s 19.5% surge in the first seven months of this year was too much and too fast. This week was only the third week of losses for the S&P 500 in the last 12.

The big tech stocks in particular have led Wall Street this year, anticipating strong sustained growth that would result in huge gains for their shares. Two of them gave a mixed picture of their results after Thursday’s close.

Amazon surged 8.3% in first trade after the company reported a much larger-than-expected spring earnings. The company said growth at its key cloud computing business stabilized during the quarter, with revenue also beating analysts’ forecasts.

However, Apple slumped 4.8% despite earnings coming in better than expected. Revenue just barely beat analysts’ estimates and the revenue forecast for the current quarter fell short of expectations.

The company’s stock was already up 47% for the year as of Thursday, with its combined value surpassing $3 trillion, meaning high expectations had built into the price.

Because it’s the largest stock on Wall Street by market value, Apple’s moves are particularly positive for the S&P 500 and other indices. It was by far the largest single weighting in the S&P 500 on Friday.

Like Amazon and Apple, most companies in the S&P 500 reported better than analysts had expected for the spring. That’s usually the case, but expectations were particularly low at the start of this earnings season. Analysts continue to expect the worst earnings declines for S&P 500 companies in nearly three years.

Booking Holdings rose 7.9%, making it one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after the company beat analysts’ forecasts for the spring. It was said that customers want to book vacation trips and that the strong demand is continuing in the current quarter. Its brands include Booking.com and Priceline.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year government bond fell to 4.04% from 4.18% late Thursday. It helps set interest rates on mortgages and other major loans.

The two-year Treasury yield, which is more in line with Fed expectations, fell to 4.77% from 4.89%.

On the stock markets abroad, the indices in Europe and Asia were mostly higher.

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