US stock markets finished mostly lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones falling 0.2% and the S&P 500 down 0.1% on the back of weaker than expected jobs data.
The Nasdaq continues to outperform as it did in 2020, with investors flocking to the COVID winners once again as the US economy is hit by the Delta outbreak that has seen border closures instituted once again.
Job gains show weakening economy
Just 235,000 jobs were added to the US economy in August, meaning millions remain out of work since the pandemic. This was well below the 720,000 expected by the market, actually a 300% difference.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.2% but it is another sign of a slowdown in the economy, which may force the Federal Reserve to hold off on tapering for the time being.
The biggest weakness has been coming from the leisure and hospitality sector, with many seeing this as a leading indicator for the economy. This naturally sent the likes of Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) down over 4% on Friday.
Over the week, the Nasdaq delivered a 1.6% gain, the S&P 500 a 0.6% gain while the Dow Jones posted a small loss of 0.2%.
Japanese PM resigns
The big news however was the resurgence in the Japanese market with the TOPIX index hitting its highest point since 1991 and the Nikkei 225 adding 5% over the week following the resignation of Prime Minister Suga after just one year in office.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks closed out the week on Friday.
- MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB) up 26.3%
- SentinelOne (NYSE: S) up 6.6%
- DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU) up 5.3%
- Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) down 1.1%
- Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) down 2.4%
- Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) down 6.0%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to head lower when the market opens on Monday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.