PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange fell shortly after the opening on Thursday, penalized by fears of a sharp slowdown in the American economy, fueled by new statistics on employment.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 53.73 points, or 0.16%, to 33,428.99 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.40% to 4,074.09 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.77%, or 92.569 points, to 11,904.293.
One year after the start of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, the labor market is showing signs of easing under the effect of the rise in rates.
The number of jobless claims for the week to April 1 was higher than expected at 228,000 and that of the previous week was revised to show 48,000 more claims than the initial estimate.
“The last bastions of the economy are starting to weaken, which heralds a recession,” said Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Spartan Capital Securities. “The labor market is starting to weaken, which works in favor of the Fed.
Fed funds futures point to a 57% chance the US central bank will pause rate hikes in May, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch tool.
Friday’s publication of the monthly employment report could influence its expectations but the US stock market, which will then be closed for the Easter weekend, will learn about it next week.
(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)
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