US stocks today: US stocks end lower as solid jobs data fuels hawkish Fed bets

Wall Street dipped on Friday as a robust jobs report raised the probability that the U.S. Federal Reserve will increase its key interest rate at this month's monetary policy meeting.

All three major U.S. indexes closed lower amid a broad selloff ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.

The ‌Labor Department's August ⁠employment report ⁠showed the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs last month, nearly three times the 56,000 consensus, while June and July payrolls were upwardly revised by a ​total of 55,000 jobs. Labor market participation increased while the unemployment rate held firm at 4.1%.


While a stronger-than-expected jobs report would generally be ​good economic news, markets are interpreting it as a sign that the data-dependent Fed will implement a rate hike at the conclusion of this month's policy meeting to curb war-related energy price pressures from morphing into broader, more systemic inflation.

"The ​labor market had a nice snapback last month, and it's hard not to ⁠think an ‌improving labor market is not a positive development for the economy," said Ryan Detrick, chief ​market strategist at Carson ​Group in Omaha, Nebraska. "On the flip side, the odds of a Fed hike increased a ⁠little bit as the economy continues to run a little on the hot ​side."

"We'll get a lot more clarity on inflation next week at the consumer and ​producer levels," Detrick added, referring to the Labor Department's consumer and producer price indexes.

Financial markets are pricing in a 58.4% likelihood of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the conclusion of the Fed's September meeting, up from 49.4% on Thursday, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 29.58 points, or 0.38%, to end at 7,718.13 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 78.62 points, or 0.30%, to 26,505.44. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 279.20 points, or 0.54%, ‌to 53,398.15.

Semiconductors were clear outperformers, but remain down around 18% this quarter. Software and services, having gained about 25% over the same period, were clear laggards.

The two indexes seem to be locked ​in seesaw mode, ​in a pattern that "seems to persist almost ⁠on a daily basis and today is no exception," said Mike Dickson, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lululemon Athletica tumbled after the activewear brand cut its full-year profit and revenue forecasts.

Adobe dropped following its announcement ​that longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen will be succeeded by insider Anil Chakravarthy.

U.S. credit reporting agencies lost ground after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said on Thursday he directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, created by the U.S. Congress to support the housing market, to approve all lenders to use the credit scoring system VantageScore.

Fair Isaac, TransUnion and Equifax all closed sharply lower.

U.S. markets will close on Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday.