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The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after the better-than-expected delayed January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.
The Dow Jones Industrials index lost 114.37 points, to 50,073.77,
The much broader index fell back 11.62 points to 6,930.19.
The NASDAQ tumbled 107.04 points to 22,995.47.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January non-farm payrolls report — which had been delayed due to a partial government shutdown that ended on Feb. 3 — showed job growth of 130,000 last month.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had called for a gain of 55,000. The latest figure also marked a sizable increase from December, which was downwardly revised to 48,000.
The unemployment rate also landed at 4.3%, a bit below the Dow Jones forecast for 4.4%. Treasury yields jumped on the heels of the report, which initially gave investors some optimism that the economy was on firm footing.
At session highs, the Dow was up more than 300 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the NASDAQ jumped 0.9%. However,
Federal Reserve interest rate cut odds were reduced, which could have lessened investor enthusiasm.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury perked, lowering yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $1.40 to $65.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices restocked $57.00 to $5,088 U.S. an ounce.
