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By Connor
Smith | Friday, March 4 Focused
on Russia. U.S.
stocks fell today despite a better-than-expected jobs report. Trading
continued to be dominated by the war in Ukraine, rising commodity costs, and
the ever-worsening geopolitical conditions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
180 points, or 0.5%, extending this week's decline to 1.3%. The Dow has
fallen in four-straight weeks and is off 8.7% from its Jan. 4 record close.
It has still fared the best of the big three indexes. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.8%
on the day to fall 9.8% from its Jan. 3 record close. The
Nasdaq Composite shed 1.7%, bringing its year-to-date skid to
nearly 15%. The drop came even as the Labor Department
said the U.S. added 678,000 jobs in February, well ahead of economists'
expectations for 400,000 jobs. The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.8%
from 4%. Barron's Megan Cassella writes
that the report bolsters expectations that the Federal Reserve will move
toward a quarter-point rate hike when it meets later this month. Importantly for the Fed, growth in average
hourly earnings for all employees slowed in February after months of sizable
increases, rising just one cent over the month to $31.58. Wages are up 5.1%
over the year, significantly lower than the 5.8% annual rate economists had
been expecting for February. The rebound in jobs for lower-paying industries
such as leisure and hospitality, however, could be having an impact. At the same time, more than 300,000 people
rejoined the labor force in February, the report shows, a positive sign for
employers that have been struggling to find workers amid a tight job market.
The labor-force participation rate increased slightly to 62.3%, though
despite months of improvement it remains well below its February 2020 level
of 63.4%. But the jobs report was overshadowed by fear
that a fire at one of Europe's largest nuclear plant signaled new dangers
from Russia's invasion. Barron's Jack
Denton and Teresa Rivas explained
the worry in their market wrap: ...the situation does “highlight another
serious risk factor surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” said
Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at broker Oanda. Russia’s tactics seem to be
shifting, and the attack on Zaporizhzhia suggests that Moscow is not beyond
moves that put wider Europe at risk, he said. Ukraine contains 15 nuclear
reactors and the explosion of any one of them is a threat to the entire
region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Friday, CNN
reported. “Prevailing winds in the area run from east
to west across some of Ukraine’s most important agricultural production
areas, and into Western Europe,” Halley added. “It doesn’t take a genius to
extrapolate the potential risks associated with that scenario.” Later on Friday, Russia blocked
access to Facebook after parent Meta
Platforms took steps to restrict state-affiliated media
sources. The company had remained online in Russia despite some calls to pull
the plug, arguing its platform could aid citizens and war protestors seeking
to organize and seek independent information. Watch our
weekly TV show on Fox Business Saturdays at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. ET; or
Sundays at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. ET. This week, an interview with Eurasia
Group's Ian Bremmer on the Ukraine crisis. |
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DJIA: -0.53% to
33,614.80 The Hot Stock: Occidental
Petroleum +17.6% Best Sector: Energy +2.9%
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