Off the wire
• Final agreement possible but still more talks needed: UN Special Representative for Libya  • Dozens of migrants feared drowned off Libya coasts: Italy's coast guard  • Scores of migrants feared dead as boat sinks off Libya  • Drought will not affect Cuba's sugar production: VP  • Paire reaches first Slam round of 16  • Urgent: U.S. stocks tumble on jobs report  • Nigeria to review foreign policy for development: official  • Irish president urges local people not to fear migrant influx  • Cyprus enacts law releasing "trapped" house owners, opens way to next bailout tranche  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed amid rate hike uncertainty  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks tumble on jobs report

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks suffered big losses Friday as investors tried to digest the closely-watched jobs data amid global sell-offs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 272.38 points, or 1.66 percent, to 16,102.38. The S&P 500 slipped 29.91 points, or 1.53 percent, to 1,921.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 49.58 points, or 1.05 percent, to 4,683.92.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls data came out mixed, beating estimates on the unemployment rate and wage indicators.

The Labor Department reported Friday that total nonfarm payroll employment added 173,000 in August, well below market consensus of 223,000. Over the prior 12 months, employment growth had averaged 247,000 per month.

The unemployment rate, however, inched down to 5.1 percent, beating market estimates of 5.2 percent and logging the lowest level in seven years.

In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to 25.09 U.S. dollars, also higher than market expectations.

The jobs report is the final read on monthly labor conditions before the Federal Reserve makes a decision on interest rates at its next policy meeting in about two weeks.

"A below-consensus headline with a big upward revision adds up to economic data good enough to justify a rate hike in two weeks if economic data were all that mattered," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

"We think the FOMC (the Federal Open Market Committee) will elect to raise rates, but they can still talk themselves out of it if they try," he added.

Dampening Wall Street sentiment, overseas stock markets also decreased broadly.

European shares plunged on Friday, with Germany's benchmark DAX index on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange diving 2.71 percent, as the uncertainty of a rate hike by the U.S. central bank weighed on market.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks dropped 2.15 percent on Friday, with its benchmark Nikkei stocks index briefly down more than 500 points in the afternoon trading, amid caution ahead of crucial U.S. labor market data. Chinese equities were closed for a second straight day for a public holiday.

On a weekly basis, all three major indices saw deep declines, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shedding 3.2 percent, 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.

U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Endit