Dow Jones Falls Most In 2 Weeks As US Stocks Slide On Job Market Worries

NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Stocks on Wall Street fell broadly on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing its most in two weeks, after an underwhelming private sector jobs report for June heightened worries about what the government would cite later in the week for total employment for July.

The Dow, the broadest US equity barometer on the New York Stock Exchange, closed down 324 points, or 0.9 percent, at 34,793. It was the index's sharpest one-day drop since July 19.

The S&P 500, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, settled down 20 points, or 0.5 percent, at 4,403.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the only major US equity index that bucked Wednesday's decline. Nasdaq, which groups Big Tech Names such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, finished up a modest 19 points, or 0.

1 percent, at 14,781.

Stocks fell broadly after the ADP National Employment Report showed a jobs gain of 330,000 in July versus expectations for 683,000 and against the June growth of 692,000.

The ADP report came ahead of the July non-farm payrolls data due from the Labor Department on Friday that would include jobs growth in both the private and public sectors.

"The deterioration to the short-term outlook was somewhat overdone given the ADP report has not been a consistent indicator of how well the private sector performs in the non-farm payroll report," Ed Moya, analyst at New York brokerage form OANDA, said.

Economists have said they expect a non-farm payrolls growth of 870,000 in July versus the 850,000 in June.