S&P 500 stumbles as red-hot jobs report triggers Fed jitters

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Investing.com — The S&P 500 cut some losses Friday, but remained under pressure after a red-hot jobs report showing more than expected job gains in November and rising wage pressures stoked fears about higher for longer Federal Reserve interest rates.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.32%, or 111 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.76%

The U.S. economy racked up 263,000 job gains in November, well above the 200,000 economists had forecast, but worryingly for the Fed average hourly wages rose by a much more than expected 0.6%, keeping elevated inflation fears front and center.

“This morning’s stronger-than-expected headline rise in employment coupled with a larger-than-expected gain in wage pressures reinforces the need for the Fed to remain focused on taming inflation,” Stifel said in a note.

Treasury yields lost some steam but remained in the ascendency as investors renewed bets on the Fed’s peak level of interest rates, or the terminal rate, rising above 5% next year.

Technology stocks were back in the firing line amid expectations for higher for longer rates, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) falling more than 1% to lead big tech to the downside.

A more than 2% wobble in semiconductor stocks also weighed on the broader tech sector as chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd ‘s  (NASDAQ:MRVL) softer guidance and weaker-than-expected third-quarter results soured sentiment on semis.

The weaker fiscal fourth-quarter guidance ahead comes as the chipmaker works its way through overloaded inventory, a process likely to continue into next year.

“We believe MRVL is undershipping end demand in F4Q…to aggressively lower customer/channel inventory, a process that is likely to continue into F1Q,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Banking stocks continued to lose ground, paced by a more than 3% decline in Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) following reports a day earlier that the bank is shaping up to cut jobs in its mortgage business amid pressure from Fed rate hikes that have stifled demand for new mortgages and refinancing.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS), BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) and State Street (NYSE:STT) were more than 1% lower.

Energy stocks were dragged lower by a slip in oil prices ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+.

Pointing to OPEC+’s decision to opt for a virtual meeting rather than an in-person meeting, RBC0 said the group’s decision to opt for “no-drama optics seemingly increases the likelihood of a rollover decision.”

EQT (NYSE:EQT), Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) were among the biggest decliners in the energy sector.