U.S. equity markets clawed back a large portion of their losses but finsihed lower in what was a volatile end to trading ahead of Labor Day weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell over 600 points intraday, lost 159 points, or 0.56%. Investors rotated out of stocks including Home Depot Inc. while buying JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp.
Financials also led the gains in the S&P 500 despite the broader index closing lower by 0.81%.
The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile. dropped 1.27%, as both Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc., booked gains.
Tesla shares, which briefly slid into bear-market territory, down at least 20% from their Aug. 31 peak, added 2.78%.
Looking at the economy, U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 1.371 million workers in August, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8.4% from 10.2%, according to the Labor Department. Wall Street economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting the addition of 1.4 million and an unemployment rate of 9.8%.
In Silicon Valley, Alphabet Inc., Amazon Inc. and Microsoft Corp, — three companies with a market value of greater than $1 trillion — remained under pressure after Thursday’s bruising selloff.
Elsewhere, Malaysia dropped criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group after the firm last month agreed to a $3.9 billion settlement amid allegations it aided in the theft of billions of dollars from the government’s 1MDB investment fund.
Looking at earnings, Docusign Inc. reported profit and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates and gave full-year guidance that outpaced expectations.
Gunmaker Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. reported revenue in the three months through June surged 125% to a record $277.97 million.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped $1.60 to $39.77 per barrel, its biggest drop since late June, while gold was little changed at $1,923.90 an ounce.
U.S. Treasurys were lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up 9.9 basis points to 0.720%, its biggest one-day yield gain since May.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.65%, while France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE slid 0.89% and 0.88%, respectively.
Asian markets finished lower across the board with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sliding 1.25%, Japan’s Nikkei declining 1.11% and China’s Shanghai Composite dropping 0.88%.
