Dow Dips 400 Points; US Adds Fewer Than Expected Jobs

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index falling around 400 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.93% to 44,333.38 while the NASDAQ dipped 1.32% to 19,530.62. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.84% to 6,032.71.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares surged by 0.7% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 2.3%.

Top Headline

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 143,000 in January 2025, marking a sharp slowdown from the upwardly revised 307,000 in December and missing economist expectations of 170,000, as tracked by TradingEconomics.

The unemployment rate inched down from 4.1% to 4% in January, beating expectations of a stable reading.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Doximity, Inc. DOCS shares shot up 36% to $79.24 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance above estimates.
• Shares of Conduit Pharmaceuticals Inc. CDTgot a boost, surging 92% to $2.97 after the company announced it completed all milestones in Phase I of its strategic collaboration with Sarborg Limited.
• Farmer Bros. Co. FARM shares were also up, gaining 32% to $2.3696 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Nikola Corporation NKLA shares dropped 37% to $0.4767 following a report suggesting that the company is exploring bankruptcy filing.
• Shares of BILL Holdings, Inc. BILL were down 33% to $64.08. The company issued third-quarter total revenue guidance below estimates.
• Newell Brands Inc NWL was down, falling 25% to $7.28 after the company issued first-quarter adjusted EPS guidance below estimates

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $70.95 while gold traded up 0.3% at $2,886.00.

Silver traded down 1.1% to $32.285 on Friday, while copper rose 3.2% to $4.6020.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.38%, Germany’s DAX 40 fell 0.53% and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.43%. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.33%, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.31%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.72%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbing 1.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.16% and India’s BSE Sensex falling 0.25%.

Economics

• Nonfarm payrolls rose by 143,000 in January 2025, marking a sharp slowdown from the upwardly revised 307,000 in December and missing economist expectations of 170,000, as tracked by TradingEconomics.
• The unemployment rate inched down from 4.1% to 4% in January, beating expectations of a stable reading.
• Average hourly earnings, a key measure of wage inflation, spiked 0.5% month-over-month, topping expectations of 0.3% and marking the highest increase since January 2024.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment declined to 67.8 in February compared to 71.1 in January and down from estimates of 71.1.
• The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by one to 480 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

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