U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a jobs report that will determine hopes for interest rate cuts showed much stronger job growth than expected.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) lost about 0.4% after the three major indexes all performed poorly on Thursday.
Investors have been boosting stocks on hopes that further data will suggest the economy is cooling, but the Labor Department report offered further evidence that parts of the economy are too hot for the central bank’s inflation-fighting measures, bolstering views of keeping interest rates high for longer.
The highly anticipated May employment report reinforced the view that interest rates will probably have to wait until the fall before they are cut from their highest levels in 20 years.
The U.S. economy added 272,000 jobs in May, well above expectations, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.0%.
read more: How does the labor market affect inflation?
Elsewhere in the market, investors are also bracing for an apparently promised livestream from GameStop (GME) promoter Keith Gill, aka “Roaring Kitty.” The event, scheduled for noon ET on Friday, will mark Gill’s first live YouTube appearance since fueling the meme stock’s rally three years ago.
GameStop shares closed 47% higher on Thursday but then plummeted after the video game retailer said it would sell up to 75 million shares and reported a drop in first-quarter sales.
Also looming after the market close is the completion of Nvidia’s (NVDA) 10-for-1 stock split. A midweek rally had briefly boosted the AI ​​chipmaker’s market cap to $3 trillion, but short selling has piled up and the stock has lost steam.
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