Wall Street closed lower on Sept 4 as a stronger-than-expected US jobs report fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could raise interest rates at its September meeting, triggering a broad sell-off ahead of the Labour Day holiday weekend.
According to Reuters, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.51 points, or 0.51%, to 53,413.60, while the S&P 500 declined 0.38% to 7,718.41. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.29% to 26,506.99.
The pressure came after the US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly triple market expectations of 56,000, while June and July payroll figures were revised higher by a combined 55,000. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%.
While the data underscored economic resilience, investors viewed the strong labour market as giving the Fed more room to tighten policy, particularly as higher energy prices linked to geopolitical tensions threaten broader inflationary pressures.
Markets priced in a 58.4% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike in September, up from 49.4% a day earlier.
Consumer discretionary stocks led losses, while industrials and technology posted modest gains. Semiconductor shares bucked the decline, jumping 3.4%, although the sector remains sharply lower for the quarter.
Among individual stocks, Lululemon Athletica plunged 17.4% after cutting its full-year revenue and profit forecasts, while Adobe dropped 6.7% following news of a leadership transition.
Credit reporting firms also came under heavy pressure, with Fair Isaac tumbling 16.7%, Equifax falling 6.4% and TransUnion dropping 5.9% after moves to expand the use of rival credit-scoring system VantageScore.
Trading volume remained below recent averages as investors headed into the three-day weekend, with US markets closed on Sept 7 for the Labour Day holiday.
