New York stock exchanges ended the trading week with significant losses on Friday as investors digested data on the US labour market, consumer confidence, and plans announced by President Donald Trump to impose new import tariffs next week on countries that tax US goods.
On Friday, the Dow Jones closed 1% lower at 44,303.40 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1% to 6025.99 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4%, ending on 19,523.40 points.
Amazon was one of the biggest losers following its earnings report, despite nearly doubling its profit last quarter thanks to strong holiday sales and Black Friday.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the 2024 holiday season the best ever for the company while revenue from the crucial Amazon Web Services (AWS) division also increased.
However, Amazon’s profit and revenue forecasts for the current quarter disappointed investors and its shares fell by 4% on Friday.
The latest US jobs report showed that employment growth in January was weaker than expected, although December’s figure was revised upwards.
Researchers from the University of Michigan reported that consumer confidence fell to a seven-month low due to concerns that Trump’s tariffs could fuel inflation.
Meanwhile, the euro was valued at $1.0329 on Friday.
A barrel of US oil rose by 0.5% to $70.94, while Brent oil was up 0.4%, ending the day on $74.59 per barrel.