US close: Stocks dip amid trade worries, despite strong jobs report
US stocks finished in the red following the release of a solid report on the state of the US jobs market in August but with investors warily eyeing the news headlines for the announcement of a fresh round of trade tariffs against the People's Republic of China.
By the end of trading, the Dow Jones Industrials was down 0.31% or 79.33 points at 25,916.54, the S&P 500 off by 0.22% or 6.37 points to 2,871.68 and the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.25% or 20.18 points to 7,902.54.
Figures on non-farm payrolls growth for last month fell short of economists' forecasts if downwards revisions to data for June and July are taken into account, but wage growth picked-up to its fastest since November 2009.
Furthermore, as Mickey Levy at Berenberg Capital Markets pointed out, at 207,000 per month, Friday's report revealed that the monthly pace of job hiring had in fact accelerated from the 182,000 per month clip seen over 2017.
Reacting to the August figures on wages, short and longer-term Treasury note yields bolted higher.
On the trade front, shortly after the start of the session, National Economic Council director, Larry Kudlow, appeared to indicate to CNBC that an announcement from the White House on proposed levies on a further $200.0bn-worth of Chinese goods might not be forthcoming on Friday, as some reports had suggested.
He was proved correct, but shortly after he spoke US President Donald Trump was reported to have said that tariffs on yet another $267.0bn of Chinese goods were already in the offing.
To take note of as well, there was some 'market chatter' in the background regarding what some believed might be positive signals from Beijing.
There was also a fair bit of Fedspeak at the end of the week, with the Presidents of the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Minneapolis both making the case for a continued tightening in policy, with the latter, Loretta Mester, reportedly also joining those who favour an increase in US lenders' so-called counter-cyclical buffers.
Their opposite number at the Dallas Fed Robert Kaplan was of a similar mind, but less so, saying interest rates should be hiked three or four times over the course of the next 9 o 12 months.
As of 13 June, the median forecast from rate-setters at the Fed was for between four or five hikes over the next 12 months.
Kaplan also weighed-in on trade, saying that talks with China might even take years to reach a resolution.
According to the Department of Labor, US non-farm payrolls increased by 201,000 in August, following a downwardly-revised print of 147,000 for July and of 208,000 for June.
Economists had forecast a rise of 191,000.
That came alongside a rise in average hourly earnings of 2.9% year-on-year (consensus: 2.8%), versus July's pace of 2.7%.
The labour force participation rate meanwhile declined by two-tenths of a percentage point to 62.7%, with the rate of unemployment unchanged from the month before at 3.9%, as expected.
In corporate news, Marvell Technology gave up early gains following the release of its second-quarter results late on Thursday to finish the session just a tad higher.
Elsewhere, Broadcom was up 7.69% after its third-quarter numbers late on Thursday, while Apple was 0.81% lower after the European Union approved the tech giant's acquisition of music discovery app Shazam on Thursday.
Tesla shares were down 6.30% following controversial CEO Elon Musk's appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast with everything from whiskey to weed to samurai swords to flamethrowers.
Dow Jones - Risers
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.83 1.70%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $42.20 1.01%
American Express Co. (AXP) $106.08 0.65%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.97 0.64%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $69.67 0.42%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $137.32 0.33%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $68.19 0.24%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $114.32 0.19%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $206.23 0.17%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $163.90 0.10%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.09 -1.87%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.45 -1.71%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $132.01 -1.13%
Visa Inc. (V) $143.24 -0.90%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $81.91 -0.90%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $221.30 -0.81%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $95.83 -0.64%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $145.45 -0.64%
Boeing Co. (BA) $349.28 -0.57%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $114.61 -0.55%
S&P 500 - Risers
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $232.58 7.69%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $128.82 3.44%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $129.74 3.38%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $5.40 2.66%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $56.06 2.64%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $15.68 2.28%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $73.57 2.24%
L Brands Inc (LB) $27.09 2.03%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $241.46 2.02%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $188.59 1.84%
S&P 500 - Fallers
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) $107.73 -4.88%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $26.90 -4.17%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $42.99 -3.98%
Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B (TAP) $63.78 -3.96%
Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) $72.42 -3.88%
PPL Corp. (PPL) $29.75 -3.78%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $19.66 -3.67%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $16.01 -3.61%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $50.53 -3.46%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $48.51 -3.27%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $232.58 7.69%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $285.80 3.68%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $128.82 3.44%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $73.57 2.24%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $35.29 2.23%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $241.46 2.02%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $98.04 1.96%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $326.50 1.79%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $114.91 1.51%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $126.61 1.30%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $263.24 -6.30%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $69.17 -4.21%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $37.56 -3.64%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $93.96 -3.22%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $57.20 -3.07%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $104.18 -2.89%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $58.77 -2.52%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $42.52 -2.23%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $108.46 -2.19%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $180.87 -1.94%