US stocks closed mixed as traders weigh China tensions against positive July jobs report

• US equities closed mixed on Friday as traders weighed escalating US-China tensions against rosy labor-market data.
• President Donald Trump issued executive orders Thursday afternoon targeting TikTok-owner ByteDance and WeChat-owner Tencent. The orders ban US transactions with the apps in 45 days.
• The US on Friday placed sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their counterparts in Hong Kong.
• On the economic data front, the US added 1.8 million jobs in July. The reading handily beat the 1.5 million increase expected by economists.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.1%, to $41.06 per barrel.
• Watch major indexes update live here.

US equities closed mixed on Friday as traders weighed escalating US-China tensions against rosy labor-market data.

Major indexes traded lower overnight and opened in the red after President Donald Trump on Thursday handed down an executive order against Chinese tech firms ByteDance and Tencent. Losses persisted throughout much of Friday after the US placed sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their counterparts in Hong Kong.

The negative China headlines contrasted with the US's addition of 1.8 million jobs in July. It marks the third straight month of labor-market improvement since unemployment saw a historic spike in April. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 1.5 million payroll additions.

The BLS also said the nation's unemployment rate declined to 10.2% from 11.1% during July.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Friday:

• S&P 500: 3,351.28, up 0.1%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 27,433.41, up 0.2% (46 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 11,010.98, down 0.9%

Read more: BANK OF AMERICA: Buy these 5 commodities now for profits into next year as pandemic uncertainty boosts their prices and lifts gold to $3,000

Hopes for an end-of-week breakthrough in stimulus talks faded as neither party revealed progress in reaching a deal. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had indicated on Tuesday that the parties would reach a compromise by Friday.

The lack of an agreement arrives one week after the $600-per-week expansion to unemployment benefits expired. Though Trump has suggested he can unilaterally approve new aid, a larger stimulus package remains far from reaching the president's desk.

"With Congress failing to agree on a new fiscal stimulus package yet, the risk is that a policy failure drains the tentative strength that had been creeping back into the economy in recent months," Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, said.

Read more: A stock chief for $7.3 trillion BlackRock told us how he's investing to get the best returns — and his top picks for maximum income as Wall Street faces the threat of mass dividend cuts

Gold prices sank for the first time in six days but remained above the $2,000 threshold.

Oil futures sank. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.1%, to $41.06 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international standard, dropped 1.8%, to $44.27 per barrel, at intraday lows.

Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

Democrats introduce bill calling on the Fed to fight racial inequality — marking its first mandate change in 43 years

Jeff Bezos cashes out $3.1 billion in Amazon stock — more than his total share sales in all of 2019

Morgan Stanley's top transportation analyst shared with us his playbook for profiting from the space-investing boom — and explained why SpaceX could be in a 'winner-take-all' position