U.S. stocks turned lower on Thursday after a pair of PMI surveys from S&P Global hinted at more labor-market weakness.
Here is where they were trading recently:
The S&P 500 was down 3 points, or 0.1%, at 5,617.
The Dow was off by 72 points, or 0.2%, at 40,898.
The Nasdaq Composite was off by 20 points, or 0.1%, at 17,898.
On the surface, the numbers looked good. The first reading of the S&P U.S. services index of purchasing managers edged up to 55.2 in August, from 55.0 in the prior month. Although the preliminary reading on U.S. manufacturing PMI fell to an eight-month low of 48.
Investors, however, appeared more focused on details of the report that reflected more evidence of labor-market weakness, according to one strategist.
Net job losses from a composite reading on employment have now been reported during three of the past five months, the softest period of job growth since the first half of 2020, S&P Global said.
“If I had to venture a guess, I would say the weak employment data in the PMI reports has investors on edge after yesterday’s downward revision to the BLS payrolls data and the broader concerns about a labor market downturn,” said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird.
Still, the magnitude of stocks’ declines remained relatively modest, with the S&P 500 remaining within striking distance of its record close on July 16.
Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro, chalked up Thursday’s weakness to run-of-the-mill jitters as investors waited to hear from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
“All eyes are now shifting to Jackson Hole to see if Powell will lay out the road map for interest rate cuts next month,” Kenwell said.
