Dow Jones Falls More Than 500 Points After Oil Prices Surge
U.S. stock indexes fell sharply on Friday, March 6, extending their weekly losses, as oil prices rose and traders reacted to a disappointing U.S. jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 519 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 1% and 0.9%, respectively.
Nonfarm payrolls declined by 92,000 jobs in February, a sharp contrast to the downwardly revised gain of 126,000 in January and well below the 50,000 job growth forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones this month. The unemployment rate also rose to 4.4% from 4.3%.
The latest US and Israeli military strikes against Iran continued after the weekend attacks that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting Tehran to launch a barrage of missiles across the region and raising fears of a wider conflict and the potential involvement of neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, shares of Royal Caribbean, which had already fallen 14% this week amid rising fuel prices, dropped another 5% on Friday. Caterpillar shares, which also suffered this week, fell 2%.
This week, the S&P 500 is on track for a loss of more than 2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 stocks, is down more than 3%. The Nasdaq Composite, which is heavily weighted with technology companies, is expected to post a loss of around 1%.
