A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, USA, March 1, 2022. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
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- Gap is declining despite a strong earnings forecast for 2022
- US employment growth far exceeded expectations in February
March 4 – Wall Street ended lower on Friday as the war in Ukraine overshadowed the acceleration of job growth in the United States last month, which indicated the strengthening of the economy.
Most of the 11 major indices in the S&P sector fell, with financial (.SPSY) leading the way. Banks have extended recent losses as investors worried about how Western sanctions against Moscow could affect the international financial system.
Shares around the world were weaker, with safe haven assets in demand as Russian forces seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in what Washington called a reckless attack that risks disaster. Read more
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The closely monitored employment report of the Ministry of Labor shows that jobs rose by more than expected 678,000 last month and that the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, the lowest since February 2020 read more
“Three or four weeks ago, we would have thought that was an incredibly important number. But given the background and the overall events that are happening in Europe, it’s just not, “said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte.
“The potential for escalation in the hot war, the potential for impact on growth in Europe and beyond, as well as the impact on the commodity channel and inflation, are taking up all the time and energy of investors,” Hill said.
Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), owner of Google-Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) all lost ground.
The crisis in Ukraine has boosted energy reserves as crude oil and other commodity prices have risen amid sanctions against Russia, a major oil producer. The energy sector S&P 500 (.SPNY) added to earnings earlier this week.
Richly valued rising stocks face the weight of the recent sell-off.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 34.97 points, or 0.76%, to finish at 4330.16 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 217.52 points, or 1.64%, to 13,320.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 168.54 points, or 0.53%, to 33,626.12 points.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that he would support a 25-point increase in interest rates at a central bank policy meeting on March 15-16 and would be “prepared to act more aggressively” later if inflation did not decrease as quickly as expected. Read more
Rising commodity prices have raised fears of even higher inflation, which could force the Fed to raise interest rates more aggressively.
Shares of Gap Inc (GPS.N) fell, although the clothing retailer forecasts an optimistic profit for 2022. Read more
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Report by Devik Jain and Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru and by Noel Randewich in Auckland, California; Edited by Aditya Soni and Grant McCool
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