Stocks fell Friday to close out a rare losing week for Wall Street following mixed reports on the US job market and two of the market's most influential stocks. The S&P 500 sank 23.86, or 0.5%, to 4,478.03. It was the fourth straight drop for Wall Street's main measure of health after it set a 16-month high at the start of the week, the AP reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also drifted between gains and losses through the day before ending with a loss. It dropped 150.27 points, or 0.4%, to 35,065.62, and the Nasdaq composite gave up 50.48, or 0.4%, to 13,909.24.
A highly anticipated US jobs report released Friday said hiring was a touch weaker last month than economists expected, though wages for workers rose more than forecast. The job market is in a precarious place. On one hand, investors want it to remain strong enough to keep the economy out of a long-predicted recession. On the other, they don't want wage growth in particular to be so strong that the Federal Reserve sees it putting upward pressure on inflation. Friday's reading offered no slam dunks for either side, but analysts said it may suggest a job market that's moderating.
Big Tech stocks led Wall Street's charge this year, with expectations for strong continued growth leading to tremendous gains in their stock prices. Two of them offered a mixed picture of their results after trading Thursday. Amazon jumped 8.3% in its first trading after it reported a much bigger profit for the spring than expected. The company said growth for its cloud-computing business stabilized during the quarter, and its revenue also topped analysts' forecasts. Apple, though, slumped 4.8% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. Its revenue only just barely topped analysts' estimates, and its forecast for revenue in the current quarter didn't blow past expectations. Because it's the biggest stock on Wall Street by market value, Apple's movements pack extra punch on the S&P 500 and other indexes. It was the single biggest weight on the S&P 500 Friday by far.
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