US stocks decline as Trump order targeting Chinese apps overshadows optimistic jobs report

• US equities dipped on Friday as escalating US-China tensions blotted out 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.
• On the economic data front, the US added 1.8 million jobs in July. The reading handily beats the 1.5 million increase expected by economists.
• Oil pared early losses following the jobs report's release. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 1.4%, to $41.35 per barrel.
• Watch major indexes update live here.

US stocks declined slightly on Friday after investors weighed better-than-expected jobs data against the Trump administration's executive orders against Chinese tech giants.

The US added 1.8 million jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking the third straight month of labor market improvement since unemployment spiked 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% through the month.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET market open on Friday:

• S&P 500: 3,340.54, up 0.3%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 27,292.09, down 0.4% (94 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 11,077.66, down 0.3%

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The better-than-expected data pared premarket losses for major indexes. Futures traded lower ahead of the report on Friday morning following President Donald Trump's executive orders against Chinese tech firms ByteDance and Tencent. The administration threatened to ban US transactions with the former's WeChat app and the latter's TikTok app in 45 days, citing data privacy concerns.

The move escalates tensions between the economic superpowers just days after reports that US and Chinese officials would meet this month to discuss their "phase one" trade deal.

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 indicated on Tuesday that the parties would reach a compromise by Friday.

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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.

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

Oil futures sank before paring losses on the jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 1.4% to $41.35 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international standard, dropped 1.2%, to $44.54 per barrel, at intraday lows.

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