New York Stock Exchange
(Bloomberg) U.S. stocks declined, erasing a weekly gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as slower-than- forecast growth in payrolls fueled concern that the economic recovery is slowing.
All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 retreated. Alcoa Inc. (AA), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) and Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) slid at least 1.3 percent as commodity shares declined. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) dropped at least 1.4 percent to pace losses among financial companies. Computer and software shares slumped after Informatica Corp. and Seagate Technology Plc (STX) said earnings missed their forecasts.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.9 percent to 1,354.68 New York, Friday, reversing its gain for the week to a loss of 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 124.20 points, or 1 percent, to 12,772.47. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.1 billion shares, 25 percent below the three- month average and the second-slowest full trading day of 2012, Bloomberg reported.
“It confirms the view that the U.S. economy is slowing,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Harris Private Bank in Chicago, which oversees about $60 billion of assets. “We are creating jobs at about less than half the pace in the second quarter than we did in the first quarter, either because of influences from abroad or seasonal adjustments.”
Equities fell as Labor Department figures showed payrolls rose 80,000 last month after a 77,000 increase in May. Economists projected a 100,000 gain, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The unemployment rate held at 8.2 percent. Private employment, which excludes government agencies, increased 84,000 in June, the weakest in 10 months.
“On balance it’s a mildly disappointing report,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages about $54 billion, said in a phone interview. “It’s hard for investors to get overly enthused about it unless in this bizarre world you believe this number gives the Fed more impetus to step up with QE3,” he said, referring to another round of stimulus action by the Federal Reserve.