US Stocks decline on rate hike worries

The US shares mostly declined in choppy trading session on Friday, 08 July 2022, with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing below the unchanged line, while the Nasdaq managed to cling gains line.

The weakness on the Wall Street was majorly due to intensifying worries about bigger Federal Reserve interest rate hikes ahead after stronger than expected jobs data.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 46.40 points, or 0.15%, to 31,338.15. The S&P500 index was down 3.24 points, or 0.08%, to 3,899.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.96 points, or 0.12%, to 11,635.31. For the week, the Nasdaq spiked by 4.6%, while the S&P 500 jumped by 1.9% and the Dow climbed by 0.8%.

Total 9 of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session lower, with materials (down 1%), real estate (down 0.46%), and utilities (down 0.33%) issues suffered largest percentage losses. Healthcare was the clear winner, gaining 0.5%.

The Labor Department's report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 372,000 jobs in June after surging by a revised 384,000 jobs in May. The report also showed that jobless rate remained near pre-pandemic lows at 3.6% and average hourly earnings rose 0.3%, after gaining 0.4% in May, all pointing to strength in the labor market.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, until recently among the central bank's most dovish policymakers, said on Friday he fully supports another 75 basis point rate rise later this month.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday they would support another 75-basis-point rate increase, but forecast a downshift to a slower pace afterward.

Among individual shares, Twitter Inc shares declined after a report said Elon Musk's deal to buy the social media company is in serious jeopardy.

GameStop Corp shares closed lower after the video game retailer announcement of termination of the employment of Chief Financial Officer Michael Recupero.

Levi Strauss shares advanced after the company's posted better than expected second-quarter results, helped by strong demand for its denim jeans and jackets.

Among Indian ADR, WNS Holdings added 0.1% to $77.57, ICICI Bank added 1.05% to $19.25, HDFC Bank added 0.5% to $59.76, and Dr Reddy's Labs added 1.5% to $55.64. Tata Motors added 0.7% to $27.90, and Azure Power Global inclined 10% to $12.81. Wipro fell 3.7% to $5.26 and INFOSYS fell 0.5% to $19.06.

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