08/03/24 Briefing

Stocks ended the week with a thud, closing down on Friday, as investors pulled back after February's job report and market powerhouse Nvidia (NVDA) had a rare off-day.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.7% after logginganother record close on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed 0.2%, with losses pared by a pop in Apple (AAPL) shares. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 1.2% after a sharp gain the previous day. Shares of Nvidia fell more than 5% after a record-breaking hot streak.

Friday's non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added 275,000 jobs in February, once again zooming past Wall Street expectations. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, its first increase in four months. Futures on the three major averages were trading in red figures ahead of the jobs data. The report bolstered investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut rates following its June meeting, but the momentum fizzled by the end of the trading day.

Showing how the wind is blowing elsewhere, policymakers from the European Central Bank lined up to support a rate cut before their summer break as inflation falls faster than expected. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan officials are said to be warming to the idea of finally lifting rates out of the negative zone.

On the corporate front, Costco (COST) shares fell 7% after its quarterly sales missovershadowed an earnings beat. Broadcom's (AVGO) revenue beat and forecast for $10 billion in sales of AI-linked chips failed to impress investors, sending the stock over 6% lower.

In commodities, gold futures (GC=F) continued to rally, as spot gold eyed its biggest weekly jump in five months amid optimism for a mid-year Fed rate