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Stocks fell on Friday as lingering tensions between China and the U.S., coupled with ongoing coronavirus stimulus negotiations, dampened the market’s enthusiasm over a strong jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials cooled off 77.31 points to 27,309.67
The S&P 500 lost 6.73 points to 3,342.43.
The NASDAQ slumped 25.1 points, to begin Friday at 11,082.97.
President Donald Trump issued on Thursday executive orders to address "the threat posed" by Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat. As part of the order, any transaction with ByteDance and Tencent, the parent companies of TikTok and WeChat, respectively, will be barred in 45 days.
It comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to escalate over several issues including the origins of the coronavirus and democracy in Hong Kong. Bloomberg News reported Friday the U.S. was poised to sanction Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
The U.S. economy added 1.763 million jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 1.4 million. The U.S. unemployment rate was also better than expected, falling to 10.2%. The jobs reports for June and May were also revised sharply higher.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury moved slightly ahead, dropping yields to 0.54% from Thursday’s 0.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 20 cents to $41.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $25.90 to $2,075.20 U.S. an ounce.
