Business & Markets
US stocks fall as jobs data lifts Fed hike bets
US stocks closed lower Friday after stronger-than-expected August jobs data led investors to increase bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its September meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.5 percent at 53,414.25. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 7,718.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent to 26,506.99.
The United States added 162,000 jobs in August, and earlier figures for June and July were revised higher. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent.
The two-year US Treasury yield, which reflects near-term rate expectations, rose after the employment report, while the dollar gained against major currencies. CME Group's FedWatch tool showed higher expectations for a September rate increase after the data.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said last week that rising prices were the main threat to the US economy. Investors are also waiting for key inflation data next week before the Fed's September meeting.
“The employment report was a bit of a shocker,” Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com said. “The good news on nonfarm payrolls, though, was quickly interpreted as bad news for monetary policy.”
Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro, said the labor market was holding up in the Fed's view, making inflation the bigger problem.
European markets ended mixed. London's FTSE 100 was flat at 10,831.09, Paris's CAC 40 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 8,278.77, and Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.2 percent to 26,046.40. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.7 percent.
US diesel prices also added to inflation concerns, reaching a record $5.85 a gallon. Oil prices eased from earlier gains linked to renewed fighting between the United States and Iran, but Brent North Sea crude was still up 0.8 percent at $96.28 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose 0.2 percent to $91.48.
Volkswagen shares rose more than six percent after the German carmaker said management and unions had agreed to cut 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade. The cuts amount to about 15 percent of Volkswagen's global workforce.
Update
Wall Street's main indexes closed lower before the Labor Day weekend.
European markets ended mixed after Asian markets rose earlier in the day.
The dollar and the two-year US Treasury yield rose after the jobs report.
US diesel prices reached a record $5.85 a gallon, adding to inflation concerns.
Volkswagen shares rose more than six percent after management and unions agreed to cut 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 20:48:40 UTC.
Update
About an hour into trading, the Dow was down 0.5 percent at 53,397.76, the S&P 500 was down 0.3 percent at 7,727.62 and the Nasdaq was down 0.2 percent at 26,537.43.
Futures markets put the chance of a September Federal Reserve rate increase at 60.2 percent, up from 49.4 percent on Thursday.
Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital said the jobs data was too good for the Federal Reserve to ignore and that a rate increase was almost assured.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 14:30:00 UTC.
Update
Stocks mostly fell after the August US jobs report.
The two-year US Treasury yield rose after the jobs report, and the dollar rose.
Wall Street indices opened flat to lower, with the Dow down 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent around 1345 GMT.
Volkswagen shares rose more than eight percent after management and unions agreed to cut 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 13:52:34 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The source did not give a new precise probability for a September Federal Reserve rate increase in the later market update.
Source
AFP news report published on .