by Lewis Krauskopf, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended a volatile session lower on Friday after the publication of monthly employment figures in the United States, which showed that the labor market was resilient despite the vigorous monetary tightening undertaken by the Federal Reserve.
The day after a session of sharp decline, Wall Street opened in the red before rising again and then turning around again at the end of the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.55%, or 187.38 points, to 33,734.88 points.
The broader S&P-500 fell 12.64 points, or 0.29%, to 4,398.95 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 18.33 points (-0.13%) to 13,660.72 points.
The Russell 2000 small cap index stood out with an increase of 1.22%.
Over the week, shortened by Independence Day in the United States on Tuesday, the Dow lost 2%, the S&P-500 1.2% and the Nasdaq 0.9%.
The Labor Department’s monthly report released on Friday showed a sharper-than-expected slowdown in job creation in the United States last month, but also a drop in the unemployment rate and wage growth remaining at a high level, reflection of a still tight labor market.
Investors continue to overwhelmingly believe that the Fed, after a pause in June, will raise rates this month to a range of 5.25%-5.5% and stay there thereafter. Some are nevertheless betting on a new turn of the screw in November.
At individual stocks, jeans maker Levi Strauss fell 7.73% after it revised down its full-year profit forecast amid rising costs.
Before the publication of their second quarter results next week, the major banks on Wall Street gained ground against the market trend, like JPMorgan or Citigroup, which both took 0.79%.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive jumped 14.25% after quarterly deliveries beat expectations.
Alibaba, whose financial subsidiary Ant Group was fined 7.12 billion yuan (902 million euros) in China, climbed 8%, investors seeing it above all as a sign of the imminent end of multiples investigations by the Chinese authorities to rein in the tech sector in the country.
(Written by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian in Bangalore, with Caroline Valetkevitch, French version Bertrand Boucey)
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