How Did the Stock Market Do Today?
Dow Jones: 16,204.83; -211.75;-1.29%
S&P 500: 1,880.02; -35.43; -1.85%
Nasdaq: 4,363.14; -146.42; -3.25%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today (Friday) fell 211 points after the U.S. Labor Department released a mixed jobs report for January. Tech stocks sank after linkedin Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) announced weak guidance for Q1 2016, and biotech stocks dragged down the healthcare sector and the Nasdaq.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) – Wall Street's fear gauge – was up 8.9%.
On the economic front, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in January, but the country only created 151,000 jobs. Economists expected 190,000 new jobs last month. This report likely puts the nail in the coffin for an interest rate hike in March. Payroll grew north of 200,000 and stronger hourly earnings would have boosted the case for the Fed to hike interest rates in March. However, the odds of a rate hike plunged below 10% today, according to CME FedWatch. This is the lowest “official” unemployment rate since 2008.
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