Stocks flipped into the red Friday afternoon after looking set to rebound earlier in the session, putting the cap on a rough first few days in August as the jobs report’s release took center stage and an earnings-heavy calendar continued.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) finished down 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped by 0.4% after gaining as much as 1% earlier in the session.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both down more than 2% to end the first week of August trading.
The July jobs report showed continued cooling in the labor market, as nonfarm payrolls rose by 187,000 last month while the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.5%. The numbers will serve as a key indicator for the Fed as it determines whether to halt its interest rate hiking campaign next month.
Elsewhere, Amazon (AMZN) stock was buzzing Friday, finishing more than 8% after earnings beat all around, combined with rosy guidance for the near term. Apple (AAPL), by contrast, was down almost 5% after the iPhone maker reported sluggish sales of that flagship product and a third straight quarter of declining revenue overall.