Stocks weakened in afternoon trading Friday as major indexes traded near session lows and investors licked their wounds from a hotter-than-expected February jobs report. One of the key stocks that slipped was artificial intelligence leader Nvidia (NVDA), which finally took a breath and retreated from an all-time high on the stock market today.
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Before the market open, the Labor Department said February nonfarm payrolls increased 275,000 vs. the 190,000 expected. It also exceeded the revised 229,000 increase in January. Private payrolls rose 223,000 vs. the 150,000 projected, while manufacturing payrolls decreased by 4,000, counter to an expected increase of 10,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% vs. forecasts for 3.7%.
The report dimmed prospects for interest rate reductions in the near future, and the Nasdaq pulled back from record highs and lost 1% in Friday’s action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tried to stay afloat but fell 0.1%, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.6%, also easing from all-time highs. The small-cap Russell 2000 faded 0.4%.
Volume rose on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Thursday.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) exchange traded fund skidded 1.5%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gave back 1.4%.
The 10-year Treasury yield edged lower to 4.09%, falling after the jobs report was released. West Texas intermediate crude oil dropped 1.4% to around $77.80 a barrel.
Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price stood above $68,000. Crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN) and Marathon Digital (MARA) all climbed around 5% Friday.
Stock Market Today: Nvidia Takes A Break
IBD 50 name Nvidia reversed course and slid more than 5% after reaching a record high of 974 earlier in the session. The stock is on pace for its largest one-day percentage decrease since Oct. 17, 2023, when it fell 4.68%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Apple (AAPL) stopped the bleeding and rose 2.2% after a seven-day sell-off. Apple stock was the biggest gainer on the Dow.
Samsara (IOT) gapped up 10% in heavy volume…
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