US Market falls after weaker than expected U.S. jobs data

The US stock market finished session lower on Friday, 10 January 2020, as slower-than-expected U.S. jobs and wage growth in December delivered mixed signals on the strength of the economy. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 133.13 points, or 0.46%, to 28,823.77, while the S&P 500 index fell 9.35 points, or 0.3%, to 3,265.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 24.57 points, or 0.3%, to 9,178.86. For the week, The Dow saw a 0.7% advance, while the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq gained 1.8%.

The U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 145,000 new jobs in December, less than the 266,000 gain in the prior month The unemployment rate, meanwhile, held near a 50-year low at 3.5%.

The jobs data ultimately did little to alter investor views on the strength of the economy or the Fed's next step. With stocks near all-time highs, markets continue to look past the flare-up in tensions with Iran and focus on the potential for a pickup in global economic growth.

Investors were also digesting an announcement by the Trump administration of fresh economic sanctions on Iran, following an attack on U.S. military facilities in Iraq that was in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general by U.S. forces last week. The sanctions target eight senior Iranian regime officials as well as the nation's steel, aluminum, copper and iron industries, according to the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation is expected to arrive in Washington on Monday to complete a phase-one trade agreement with the U.S., which has arguably been the most influential driver of stock moves for more than a year. President Donald Trump said he wants a partial trade deal signed by Jan. 15 or shortly thereafter.

Earnings reports will begin in earnest next week, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and other big banks on the schedule to tell investors how much profit they made in the last three months of 2019. Many will also give forecasts for 2020.

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