Stocks tumbled on Friday to kick off August trading as investors weighed stark signs of a weakening economy and President Donald Trump’s modified tariff rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 542.40 points, or 1.23%, closing at 43,588.58. The S&P 500 shed 1.60% to end at 6,238.01, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.24% and settled at 20,650.13.
The July jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls expanded by 73,000 last month, well beneath the consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones that called for a 100,000 increase to payrolls. Prior months were significantly revised down. June job growth totaled just 14,000, down from 147,000. The May count came down to 19,000 from 125,000, signaling the labor market has been weakening for a while now.
Bank stocks were sharply lower on fears that a slowing economy could hit loan growth. Shares of JPMorgan Chase pulled back more than 2%, while Bank of America and Wells Fargo fell more than 3% each. GE Aerospace and Caterpillar dipped nearly 1% and 2%, respectively.
“What we’re seeing is concern about growth that comes at a time when market multiples have become quite elevated,” said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. “It’s also indicative of a late summer growth scare, but you can layer that a little bit with that the idea that the doves on the FOMC ended up being correct, which lends to the idea that the Fed is late.”
The numbers increased the odds that the Fed could act sooner than expected to cut rates and prop up the economy, a notion that helped stem stock losses. Traders place the likelihood of a September rate cut at roughly 86% after the jobs figures, according to CME fed futures trading. That’s a reversal from Wednesday, when the odds plummeted after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank needs to wait and evaluate the impact of tariffs on inflation before cutting.
Trump’s overnight rollout of updated duties that ranged from 10% to 41% also weighed on sentiment. Goods that have been transshipped in a bid to avoid the tariffs will face another 40% levy, according to the White House.
Canada, one of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, will now have a 35% levy. That’s up from 25%.
“Traders are locking in gains as tech earnings fade, macro risks grow, and seasonality turns negative. Breadth is narrowing, valuations are stretched, and defensive positioning is quietly building,” said Joseph Cusick, portfolio specialist at Calamos Investments.
A sell-off in tech giants also weighed on stocks Friday. Shares of Amazon tumbled more than 8% after the e-commerce giant provided light operating income guidance for the current quarter. Apple stock slipped 2.5%.
The major averages also suffered a losing week, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.4% for its worst weekly performance since May 23, and the Dow tumbling 2.9% to post its worst week since April 4. The Nasdaq lost 2.2% in the period.
