US stocks suffer worst weekly loss in over a year
The S&P 500 closed down 1.7% on Friday for its first four-day losing streak since April. On the week, the benchmark index gave back 4.3%, its worst showing since Silicon Valley Bank imploded in March 2023. The Nasdaq 100 lost 2.7%, the second time this week that the tech-heavy index posted a loss greater than 2%, for its biggest weekly loss since November 2022. The Russell 2000 lost 1.9%.
The much-anticipated jobs report showed lower than expected US job growth in August, reviving worries about a cooling economy and enhancing expectations for a deeper easing cycle from the Federal Reserve.
All 11 S&P 500 sector ETFs slid, with the technology sector led the losses, down 2.6%. Major tech stocks were the worst S&P 500 performers on Friday: Broadcom dropped 10.4% following disappointing outlook after releasing earnings, while Tesla was down 8.5% and Super Micro Computer retreated 6.8%.
The policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield declined 9 basis points and settled at 3.66%, and 10-year Treasury yields dipped 1 basis points to 3.72%, both hitting a new 12-month low during intraday trading. But for the first time since July 1, 2022, the so-called yield curve, the spread between yields on the two Treasury notes, ended the day in a positively sloped or un-inverted shape.
Oil also dropped to the lowest point in a year, as the US benchmark WTI fell more than 7% this week to below $70. It was the worst week for crude since October, even as OPEC+ members delayed a planned production increase.