Wall Street flat after weak labor market data, dovish Fed comments
S&P 500 and Nasdaq flat in choppy trading
Job openings indicate labor market easing
Nvidia edges lower after report of DOJ subpoena
Dollar Tree dives after cutting annual forecasts
AMD rises after hiring former Nvidia executive Keith Strier
Updates to 2:30 p.m. EDT
By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK Sept 4 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks were mostly flat in choppy trading on Wednesday following labor market data and comments from a Federal Reserve official that bolster the case for an interest rate cut.
Labor Department data showed that U.S. job openings fell to a 3-1/2-year low in July, indicating continued easing of labor market tightness that could strengthen the Fed's hand to begin cutting rates at its next meeting later this month.
The benchmark S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow indexes were flat in choppy trading, with utilities stocks leading the gainers while energy and healthcare equities were the main drag. Nine out of 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading down.
"For me, even though the index is flat or down a couple of basis points, actually the market is up," said Eric Beyrich, co-chief investment officer at Sound Income Strategies. "The data always gets messed up, if you will, by the large cap tech companies which drive everything."
Shares of Nvidia NVDA.O, which suffered a massive $279 billion drop in market value on Tuesday, were up 0.2%. The U.S. Department of Justice sent a subpoena to the AI chip firm as it deepens its probe into the company's antitrust practices, according to a report.
Other megacap growth stocks including Apple AAPL.O slipped 1% and Amazon.com AMZN.O fell 1.8%. Tesla TSLA.O was up nearly 5%.
Raphael Bostic, Atlanta Fed president, said on Wednesday the central bank must not keep interest rates too high much longer or it risks causing too much harm to employment. He added that waiting until inflation falls back to the Fed's 2% goal before cutting rates "would risk labor market disruptions that could inflict unnecessary pain and suffering."
In Tuesday's session, all three Wall Street indexes slumped to their biggest one-day loss since early August as investors dumped technology-related stocks in a dour start to September - which is historically the worst month for equities.
"Utility stocks are up today because of weak data in jobs that just bolsters the case that when the Fed meets in almost a few weeks they are going to cut rates by at least 25 basis points," Beyrich added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 3.38 points, or 0.00%, to 40,936.13, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.11 points, or 0.09%, to 5,523.82 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 1.55 points, or 0.00%, to 17,135.93.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX rebounded from its biggest one-day drop since the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous session and was up 0.72%.
Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O rose 3.5% after it named former Nvidia executive Keith Strier as its senior vice president of global AI markets.
Zscaler ZS.O forecast fiscal 2025 revenue and profit below estimates, sending its shares down nearly 18%. Dollar Tree DLTR.O slumped 24% after the discount store operator trimmed its annual sales and profit forecasts.
September is the worst month for S&P 500 on average since 1928 https://tmsnrt.rs/3zea03d
JOLTS https://reut.rs/4cYB3xo
Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; additional reporting by Johann M Cherian, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru
Editing by Matthew Lewis
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
