Aug. 4 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 300 points on Wednesday amid disappointing jobs data.
The blue-chip index dropped 323.73 points, or 0.92% and the S&P 500 slid 0.46%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.13%.
Markets reacted to a report by ADP and Moody’s Analytics, which found that the U.S. economy added 330,000 private-sector jobs in July, falling short of analysts’ expectations of 653,000 new private jobs in July. It was also down significantly from 680,000 jobs added in June and the lowest monthly total for private payrolls since February.
The low jobs data comes as cases of COVID-19 have surged in the United States amid the presence of the Delta variant and stalling vaccination rates.
“We need consumers out and about spending money, not sitting at home with nowhere to go and/or worried about the coronavirus,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute strategist Scott Wren said in a note, according to CNBC. “But based on the fact that the major equity indexes are near all-time record highs, one can make a rational argument that right now investors are not all that worried about the Delta variant’s potential for rattling the economy.”
Shares of General Motors fell 8.91% after the company missed second-quarter earnings expectations and cited “new challenges” in the future including plans to shut down three North American full-size pickup truck plants next week due to a computer chip shortage.
Chevron stock dropped 2.25% as oil prices fell, while bank stocks also plummeted with Wells Fargo falling 1.45%.
Shares of Robinhood, which tumbled as it made its initial public offering last week, surged 50.41% on Wednesday.
The 10-year treasury yield traded flat near 1.8% after falling as low as 1.13% earlier in the session.
