Wall Street ends lower as solid jobs data fuels hawkish US Fed bets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.51 points, or 0.51 per cent.
On September 4, Wall Street declined as a robust jobs report increased the probability of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike during its upcoming monetary policy meeting. All major US indexes closed lower, reflecting a broad market sell-off before the three-day holiday weekend. The Labor Department's August employment report revealed 162,000 jobs added in August, significantly surpassing the 56,000 consensus.
Payrolls for June and July were also revised upward by 55,000 jobs. Labor market participation increased, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%. While positive economic news, markets viewed the strong job data as a sign that the data-driven Fed would raise rates at the end of the current policy meeting to prevent war-related energy price pressures from escalating into broader inflation.
Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, noted the sharp job market improvement, while also acknowledging the increased odds of a Fed rate hike. Market participants now estimate a 58.4% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the end of the Fed's September meeting, up from 49.4% on September 4. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.51 points (0.51%), S&P 500 lost 29.30 points (0.38%), and Nasdaq Composite dropped 77.07 points (0.29%).
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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