- Wall Street’s main indexes opened in the negative territory on Friday.
- Unemployment Rate in the US fell to 10.2% in July.
- S&P 500 Energy Index falls sharply in early trade.
Major equity indexes in the US started the last day of the week in the negative territory despite the upbeat jobs report as investors remain focused on political headlines. As of writing, the S&P 500 was down 0.28% on a daily basis at 3,339, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.4% at 27,268 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.25% at 11,239.
The data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls in July increased by 1,763,000, compared to analysts’ estimate of 1.6 million. Moreover, the Unemployment Rate fell to 10.2% and came in better than the market expectation of 10.5%.
Nevertheless, with US lawmakers struggling to reach an agreement on the next coronavirus stimulus bill and the US-China geopolitical tensions remaining elevated, the labour market data failed to provide a boost to sentiment.
Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is down 1.9% on a daily basis. On the other hand, the defensive Utilities Index is clinging to small gains in the early trade.
S&P 500 chart (daily)
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