U.S. stocks were mixed after Friday’s jobs report failed to calm fears about interest rates.
At 10:51 ET (14:51 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 49 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.1%.
The June jobs report was weaker than expected, with 209,000 jobs added last month. Growth in average hourly earnings was unchanged at 0.4%, while the unemployment rate dipped to 3.6% from 3.7%.
Fed has incentive to raise rates
The numbers confirm that while job growth slowed the labor market remains tight, giving the Federal Reserve extra incentive to raise interest rates again at its next meeting this month. It is working to push inflation back to the 2% annual target, but a tight labor market and persistently high prices are keeping it on a more aggressive path.
Futures traders are factoring in a greater than 90% probability that the Fed will raise rates another quarter of a percentage point later this month and possibly again in the fall.
Indexes on track to end the week lower
That is putting pressure on megacap tech stocks, which soared in the first half of 2023 amid expectations that the Fed was nearing the end of its rate hiking.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were on track to end the week lower.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in China amid rising tensions between the U.S. and PRC over technology. Yellen said Beijing’s newly announced export controls on two strategic metals that are crucial to the global semiconductor industry were a “concern.”
Levi’s shares fall after cutting outlook
Shares of Levi Strauss & Co Class A (NYSE:LEVI) were falling 6.2% after the denim apparel maker cut its forecast for the full year, below expectations and its previous guidance.
Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) shares dipped 2.6% after news that the Food and Drug Administration has given full approval to its Leqembi, a drug to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.
