S&P 500 Falls 1.5%, Nasdaq Tumbles 2% Dow Drops 500 Points on weak jobs and Trump tariffs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 583 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite slid nearly 2%.
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The Labor Department reported just 73,000 new nonfarm payrolls in July, far below economists' forecasts for 100,000. Prior months were revised significantly lower, highlighting ongoing labor market weakness. Traders now see a 66% chance of a September Federal Reserve rate cut, up from earlier in the week.
Tariff news added pressure. The White House announced levies of 10% to 41% on select imports, including a 35% rate on goods from Canada, up from 25%. Items routed through third countries to avoid duties will face a 40% charge.
Tech and bank stocks were the worst in dragging down the market. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) declined by 4%, and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) dropped by more than 3%.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was down over 7% on weaker than hoped-for directions, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were falling, too. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was an exception to the downward move when it gained 2 percent after it reported good earnings.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
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