Wall Street ends lower on fears of a sharp Fed rate hike

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Friday after the publication of the monthly report on employment in the United States which supports the scenario of a sharp rise in rates from the Federal Reserve next month. The Dow Jones index fell -2.11%, or 630.15 points, to 29,296.79 points. The broader S&P-500 lost 103.90 points, or -2.77%, to 3,640.62 points. The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 420.91 points (-3.80%) to 10,652.41 points. The Labor Department reported more job creations than expected at 263,000 and a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5%. These two figures could encourage the Fed to tighten its monetary policy in order to moderate the economy and inflation, with the risk of overdoing it. “It was a classic case of good news being bad news,” said Bill Sterling, strategist at GW&K Investment Management. “The market took the good news of the strong labor market report and turned it into an ever more vigilant Fed and therefore with potentially higher risks of recession next year.” SECURITIES On the equity side, technology stocks were penalized both by the prospect of a rise in the cost of credit and by the disappointing announcements of AMD, which lost 4% after issuing a warning on its quarterly turnover . (Report Matthieu Protard)