
Ghana's Credit Rating Raised by S&P After Spending Cut Plans
The credit assessor upgraded the long-term foreign-debt rating of Africa's top gold producer to CCC from SD, or selective default. The outlook was set at stable.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
S&P 500 sinks 1.6%, its worst drop since May, following surprisingly weak hiring numbers and Trump's tariff rollout
NEW YORK (AP) — S&P 500 sinks 1.6%, its worst drop since May, following surprisingly weak hiring numbers and Trump's tariff rollout. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


NBC News
23 minutes ago
- NBC News
Dow closes 500 points lower Friday as weak jobs data and new tariffs incite sell-off
Stocks tumbled on Friday to kick off August trading as investors weighed stark signs of a weakening economy and President Donald Trump's modified tariff rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 542.40 points, or 1.23%, closing at 43,588.58. The S&P 500 shed 1.60% to end at 6,238.01, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.24% and settled at 20,650.13. The July jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls expanded by 73,000 last month, well beneath the consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones that called for a 100,000 increase to payrolls. Prior months were significantly revised down. June job growth totaled just 14,000, down from 147,000. The May count came down to 19,000 from 125,000, signaling the labor market has been weakening for a while now. Bank stocks were sharply lower on fears that a slowing economy could hit loan growth. Shares of JPMorgan Chase pulled back more than 2%, while Bank of America and Wells Fargo fell more than 3% each. GE Aerospace and Caterpillar dipped nearly 1% and 2%, respectively. 'What we're seeing is concern about growth that comes at a time when market multiples have become quite elevated,' said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. 'It's also indicative of a late summer growth scare, but you can layer that a little bit with that the idea that the doves on the FOMC ended up being correct, which lends to the idea that the Fed is late.' The numbers increased the odds that the Fed could act sooner than expected to cut rates and prop up the economy, a notion that helped stem stock losses. Traders place the likelihood of a September rate cut at roughly 86% after the jobs figures, according to CME fed futures trading. That's a reversal from Wednesday, when the odds plummeted after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank needs to wait and evaluate the impact of tariffs on inflation before cutting. Trump's overnight rollout of updated duties that ranged from 10% to 41% also weighed on sentiment. Goods that have been transshipped in a bid to avoid the tariffs will face another 40% levy, according to the White House. Canada, one of the U.S.'s biggest trading partners, will now have a 35% levy. That's up from 25%. 'Traders are locking in gains as tech earnings fade, macro risks grow, and seasonality turns negative. Breadth is narrowing, valuations are stretched, and defensive positioning is quietly building,' said Joseph Cusick, portfolio specialist at Calamos Investments. A sell-off in tech giants also weighed on stocks Friday. Shares of Amazon tumbled more than 8% after the e-commerce giant provided light operating income guidance for the current quarter. Apple stock slipped 2.5%. The major averages also suffered a losing week, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.4% for its worst weekly performance since May 23, and the Dow tumbling 2.9% to post its worst week since April 4. The Nasdaq lost 2.2% in the period.


CNBC
23 minutes ago
- CNBC
S&P 500 was turned back at the 6,400 level this week. What could come next
After a perfect week last week, when the S & P 500 finished above 6,300 for the first time ever and scored five closing highs in a row , the broad market index's momentum has hit a wall. Stocks attempted to close above 6,400 a few times this week, but even upbeat quarterly results from market leaders like Microsoft and Apple couldn't make it happen. "Like a 5th-grader trying to eke out one more pull-up in gym class, the SPX cannot get past 6,400 no matter how hard it tries," Wells Fargo analyst Christopher Harvey wrote in a note on Friday. The market sold off in a big way on Friday, its fourth consecutive day of losses, reacting first to President Donald Trump signing executive orders Thursday imposing "reciprocal" tariffs on several countries. The duties now range from 10% to 41%. Stocks were then hit further by a July nonfarm payrolls report Friday that showed the labor market has been weakening for months, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump later Friday fired BLS commissioner , Erika McEntarfer, in the wake of the report. Friday's more than 1.6% move lower in the S & P 500 confirmed its failure to top the 6,400 mark this week and put its year-to-date rise at 6.1%. The market's short-term performance, however, is more impressive, with the S & P 500 climbing 11.3% in just the past three months. .SPX 3M mountain S & P 500 over the past 3 months. From the closing low on April 8 – days after Trump unveiled steep new tariff rates that were later delayed – to its all-time closing high this past Monday, the index has risen nearly 28%. Frank Cappelleri, founder of CappThesis, thinks the rally, over a "relatively short period," means stocks are "bound to face some digestion." "From a technical standpoint, the S & P 500 had been taking advantage of a series of bullish transformations since April, and that momentum now needs time to consolidate before the next leg higher," he said. "This pause could be healthy. It also coincides with the typical seasonal softness that tends to show up in early August, making it understandable for the market to take a breather here." Additionally, there has been a lack of substantial moves in either direction on the S & P 500 prior to Friday's session, another reason behind the index's inability to rise above 6,400, according to Andrew Thrasher, founder of Thrasher Analytics. "The market had experienced very few 1% up or down days, and when that occurs it sets up for the potential of market volatility to return when we do experience a 1% up or down day," he told CNBC. That and the seasonal weakness historically seen in August and September, mean that the latest sell-off in the S & P 500 is coming after "narrow internal breadth" at its recent peak, said Ari Wald of Oppenheimer. The percentage of stocks trading above their 200-day average on the Russell 3000 only reached 59% compared to readings of 70% throughout 2024, revealing that strength in the cap-weighted S & P 500 was "masking weakness underneath the surface," he said. "Sure enough, those relatively weak areas like small-caps and value stocks have weighed on the market overall this week," Wald, the firm's head of technical analysis, said. The S & P 500 may come under further pressure from here, as a reset to 5,900 is "reasonable at a minimum" based on current market conditions, Wald added. That would equal roughly 5% downside potential from Friday's closing price. "We believe tactical conditions have become unfavorable," Wald continued. "We're looking for seasonal consolidation to continue to develop through the balance of Q3. While we recommend maintaining a long-term core position in large-caps and growth, we see vulnerability in small-caps and value over the near-term."