U.S. Stocks Open Lower After Jobs Report
March 08 2019 - 10:26AM
Dow Jones News
By Will Horner and Shen Hong
Major U.S. indexes fell Friday, on pace for their worst week
since December, after data showed hiring growth slowed
significantly in February.
The data reignited investors concerns around the health of the
U.S. economy, the latest hurdle for a bull market that is on the
eve of its 10th anniversary.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159 points, or 0.6%, to
25305 in early-morning trading, while the S&P 500 declined
0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite also fell, shedding 0.8%. The declines
extended major indexes' weekly losses north of 2.7%, on pace for
their biggest drop since late December.
The declines came after data from the Labor Department showed
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 20,000 in
February, missing economists' expectations of 180,000 new jobs.
Still, the report wasn't all gloomy. The unemployment rate
ticked down to 3.8% from 4% a month earlier, while wages rose 3.4%
from a year earlier -- the strongest pace since April 2009. The
mixed data likely helped protect stocks against steeper losses,
analysts said, adding that there was some question whether the
government shutdown or a recent major snowstorm contributed to the
weaker-than-expected jobs print.
"You can say this is not consistent with what we've seen from
earnings," said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington
Trust.
Major U.S. indexes have been hit this week by concerns of
weakening economic growth in Europe and Asia, on top of worries
that a trade deal between the U.S. and China isn't imminent.
Downbeat data from China overnight added to the downbeat mood.
A report Friday showed Chinese exports slid 20.7% in February
from a year earlier -- a much steeper decline than economists had
expected. Imports tumbled 5.2%, also a bigger drop than
expected.
The data pushed shares of Chinese companies lower, with major
indexes suffering their worst day since October. The Shanghai
Composite Index fell 4.4% and its smaller Shenzhen counterpart
dropped 3.8%, their biggest single-day falls in five months.
Meanwhile, in Europe, plans by the European Central Bank to
deploy additional stimulus Thursday suggested policy makers had
become increasingly concerned about the slowdown across the region,
analysts said.
Despite the concerned response from markets, some welcomed the
actions taken by ECB President Mario Draghi as necessary to guard
against a worsening of the global slowdown.
"It seems like Draghi, at least, wanted to be seen as decisive.
Now is better to act, sooner, pre-emptive, rather than later," said
Geoffrey Yu, head of the U.K. investment office of UBS Wealth
Management.
While the ECB's moves showed they were concerned about the
slowdown, their actions should be read as vigilance, rather than
anxiety, he added. "They are erring on the side of caution."
Jim Reid, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in a note that
markets interpreted the ECB's stimulus measures as "nowhere near
substantial enough," considering the downward revisions of growth
forecasts.
Michael Wursthorn contributed to this article.
Write to Shen Hong at hong.shen@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 08, 2019 10:11 ET (15:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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