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Nonfarm payrolls increase by 143,000 in January
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Microchip falls on downbeat Q4 net sales, profit forecast
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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.