Stocks Slide As Oil Price Fears, U.S. Jobs Data Rattle Markets
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Oil prices hit their highest levels in almost two years, and Qatari officials warn they could spike as high as $150 per barrel.
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Stocks sank on Friday as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran drove oil prices sharply higher, while an unexpected loss of U.S. jobs in February increased hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts but did little to cheer investors worried about economic weakness.
Trading was choppy in currencies and U.S. Treasuries as investors digested the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing that nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 jobs last month, versus economists’ forecasts for growth of 59,000.
February’s losses contrasted with a 126,000 downwardly revised increase in January. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, from January’s 4.3%.
“We’ve seen negative momentum in stocks in recent days on the geopolitical environment and concerns about a resurgence in inflation and rising oil prices,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer with Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
“Today you layer on the news of an unexpectedly soft labor market report for February. Investors are recalibrating their expectations, not only for stocks but what it will mean for the Fed.”
The military campaign has killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sunk at least 10 Iranian warships and struck more than 1,000 targets.
As the American and Israeli airstrikes continued, a top Iranian security official vowed defiantly that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
Blasts in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area of government buildings.
Four people were injured at the airport, the emirate's media office said early on Sunday.