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US STOCKS-Wall St falls on expectations of Fed caution after jobs data
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US STOCKS-Wall St falls on expectations of Fed caution after jobs data
Feb 7, 2025 8:00 AM

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Nonfarm payrolls increase by 143,000 in January

*

Microchip falls on downbeat Q4 net sales, profit forecast

*

Indexes down: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.19%, Nasdaq 0.55%

(Updates after markets open)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 7 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes fell on Friday after the latest

jobs data raised the prospects of a more cautious Federal

Reserve, while a survey showed unexpected weakness in U.S.

consumer sentiment.

A Labor Department report

showed

the U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, compared

with a rise of 170,000 expected by economists.

The unemployment rate stood at 4%, compared with the

expectations of 4.1%, while the U.S. economy

created

598,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than

previously estimated.

"It's enough to keep the Fed on the sidelines, but also

put just a seed of doubt about the economic strength in the back

of investors' minds," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist

at Baird.

"I don't think it's a negative print, but I don't think

it's a big risk-on print either."

Separately, the University of Michigan's preliminary index

on consumer sentiment for February came in at 67.8, compared to

a forecast of 71.1.

Traders of short-term interest-rate futures

continue

to bet the Fed will next cut its policy rate in June after

the data.

At 10:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 70.38 points, or 0.16%, to 44,677.25, the S&P 500

lost 11.84 points, or 0.19%, to 6,071.73 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 108.18 points, or 0.55%, to 19,683.82.

Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower, with

consumer discretionary leading losses with a 1.4%

fall.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) dipped 3.6% due to

weakness in the retailer's cloud computing unit, Amazon Web

Services, and lower-than-expected forecasts for first-quarter

revenue and profit.

Markets had a dismal start to the week when U.S. President

Donald Trump announced sweeping trade tariffs over the weekend,

but suspended the levies on goods from Mexico and Canada on

Monday for a month.

Since then, a host of strong earnings and optimism about a

potential China-U.S. trade deal despite Beijing's tit-for-tat

tariffs have set all three major indexes on track for weekly

gains, with the Dow on pace for its fourth straight

weekly rise.

Of the 292 S&P 500 companies that have reported

earnings so far, more than 76% beat analysts' expectations,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

Among other early movers, Pinterest ( PINS ) jumped 17.5%

after the image-sharing platform forecast first-quarter revenue

above market estimates.

Elf Beauty ( ELF ) tumbled 23.3% after the cosmetics company

cut its annual net sales and profit forecasts, while Expedia ( EXPE )

added 16.1% after the online travel platform posted

better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Chipmaker Microchip Technology fell 3.7% after

forecasting fourth-quarter net sales and profit below estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.39-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and 68 new

lows.

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