Dow down 700 points as selloff deepens - MarketWatch

1 hour ago

Dow Falls 700 Points. Get Ready for More Market Fireworks Tomorrow.

Connor Smith

MarketWatch

8 hours ago

With the stock market already sliding on soft economic data, tomorrow’s jobs report could overshadow Big Tech earnings this week.

The Labor Department is set to report nonfarm payrolls for July at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. The report already had heightened importance because it is one of a handful of economic data releases between now and the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting that could sway officials on when to start cutting interest rates.

Economists polled by FactSet expect the U.S. economy added 175,000 nonfarm jobs in July, down from 206,000 in June. After today’s stock market swoon, the numbers will need to come in pretty close to that target so as not to spook the market.

A “too cold” report would add to today’s soft economic data and spark fears that the Fed is behind the curve on interest rate cuts.
A “too hot’ report would prompt some whiplash, but also send bond yields spiking on fears that a September rate cut may not come at all.

Then there’s the unemployment rate. An uptick to 4.2% would trigger the so-called Sahm rule recession indicator. Even if growth in immigration is a key culprit there, try explaining that to a stock market that’s already starting to fret about the economy.

The Dow was down 721 points, or 1.8%.

The S&P 500 was down 2%.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 3%,

despite a strong report from Meta Platforms. That's the key there. Though we get Apple and Amazon.com after the close today, Big Tech earnings don't mean much when the market is in sell mode.

DJIA

DJIA (Dow Jones Global)

40222.06-620.73-1.52%

S&P 500

SPX (S&P US)

5433.34-88.96-1.61%

Nasdaq

COMP (Nasdaq)

17156.31-443.09-2.52%

Meta Platforms Inc.

META (U.S.: Nasdaq)

$495.30 USD20.474.31%