US stocks fall
Stocks and bonds slid on Wall Street today after record oil prices and surprisingly strong gains in jobs and wages unnerved US investors, who feared a more robust labour market and higher wages could spark inflation and lead to more interest rate hikes.
The major indexes closed down for the week.
Wall Street extended its losses from Thursday after the Labour Department said workers’ average hourly earnings rose to 16.13 dollars in July, the largest increase for the year.
The financial markets got no help from the price of oil, which climbed on fears the US gasoline supply wouldn’t meet the summer’s demand. A barrel of light crude settled at a record 62.20 dollars, up 93 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 52.07, or 0.49%, to 10,558.03, compounding an 87-point drop the previous session.
Broader stock indicators also closed lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 9.44, or 0.76%, to 1,226.42, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.41, or 0.61%, to 2,177.91.
Bond prices sank. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.39%, its highest level since April, from a yield of 4.31% late on Thursday.
