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The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite retreated on Friday, as Nvidia’s incredible run took a breather and the market neared the conclusion of a choppy week.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 68.07 points to close Friday and the week at 38,723.78.
The S&P 500 settled 33.66 points to 5,123.70.
The NASDAQ skidded 188.26 points, or 1.2%, to 16,085.11.
After a rough start, the Dow lost 0.8% and NASDAQ was down 1%, on the week. The S&P 500 flickered around its weekly flatline. This week could mark its 17th positive one of the last 19 for the S&P 500, which would be a first since the 1960s.
Stocks wobbled on Friday as an earlier rally in Nvidia lost steam, with the artificial intelligence darling last down more than 4% on the day.
Though Nvidia dragged on tech, Apple rose more than 1% in Friday trading. With that gain, the mega-cap stock was on track to snap its longest losing streak since early 2022 at seven days. But shares were still down more than 4% on the week, making it the worst performer in the 30-stock Dow.
The February jobs data gave some conflicting signals as to when it will be safe for the Fed to start cutting interest rates. On one hand, the number of jobs added last month was much more than expected, coming in at 275,000 compared with an estimate of 198,000 from economists polled by Dow Jones. This data can imply an economy that’s still running pretty hot.
But the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher to 3.9% and wage growth was lighter than feared, offering morsels of hope that inflation has cooled enough to appease the Fed. Data on January jobs growth was also revised lower.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained some ground Friday, lowering yields to 4.08% from Thursday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $1.04 to $77.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $19.10 to $2,184.30.
