VOA News | Friday, August 2, 2024 
Weak US jobs data pummels stock markets as a global sell-off whips back to Wall Street

New York — U.S. stocks are tumbling Friday on worries about whether the U.S. economy can hold up amid the countdown for a cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, as a sell-off for stocks whips all the way around the world back to Wall Street. The S&P 500 was sinking by 2.5% in late morning trading, potentially on pace for its worst day since 2022, and on track for its first back-to-back loss of more than 1% since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 806 points, or 2%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.1% lower. A report showing hiring by U.S. employers slowed last month by much more than economists expected sent fear through markets, with both stocks and bond yields dropping sharply. It followed a batch of weaker-than-expected reports on the economy from a day earlier, including a worsening for U.S. manufacturing activity, which has been one of the areas hurt most by high rates. It was just a couple days ago that U.S. stock indexes jumped to their best day in months after Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave the clearest indication yet that inflation has slowed enough for cuts to rates to begin in September. Now, worries are rising the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high…Read more