At Friday’s close, the S&P 500 Index, which tracks stocks of the top 500 US companies, fell 2% on the day and 2.1% on the week. That marked the biggest drop since a 3% weekly tumble in mid-April.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which comprises stocks such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, finished down 2.5% for the session and 3.4% for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest indicator for US equity markets, slid nearly 1.6% for Friday and 2.2% on the week.
The United States added 114,000 jobs in July, its smallest since the jobs boom that began after the pandemic, while unemployment rose to two-and-a-half year highs, the US Labor Department said Friday in laying out one of the most compelling data sets for an interest rate cut in September.
The jobs report came a day after the release of unexpectedly soft US manufacturing data that triggered more worries about the economy than optimism over a potential rate cut that would also be good overall for business. The last time the Federal Reserve cut US rates was four-and-a-half years ago.
Wall Street is now "wondering if the Fed is too late in transitioning monetary policy," Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, said in comments carried by CNBC.
The cooler-than-anticipated US labor situation for July prompted money market bets for a 50-basis point, or 0.5% percentage point, rate cut when the Fed’s policy-makers meet on September 18. Prior to that, bets had at best been for a 25 basis point, or 0.25% percentage point cut.