US stocks fall as strong jobs report dims prospects of the Fed slowing rate hikes

• US stocks slipped Friday following new labor data that showed US employers added 390,000 jobs last month.
• Unemployment remained at 3.6%, and the jobs data revealed the slowest pace of growth since April 2021.

US stocks fell Friday, with the Nasdaq losing 1.4% and the S&P 500 about 0.92% lower. The slip followed new employment data that showed the US labor market added jobs at steady pace in May.

US employers added 390,000 jobs last month, beating estimates but still coming in at the slowest pace since April 2021. Unemployment remained at 3.6%.

"Overall, this is not a game-changing report," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics said. "But the continued moderation in wage growth is a big deal; if the numbers had rebounded, it would be much harder to make the case that a 25bp hike in July is a real possibility. In the event, it is still in play, but a great deal depends on next week's CPI data."

Markets have been expecting a 50 basis-point increase at the next two meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, but traders have been hoping for a slow down or a pause if the central bank thinks inflation has come down sufficiently.

John Lynch, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management, added: "Full employment in the U.S. is a solid buffer against the risk of slowing global growth."

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,128.95, down 1.15%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,023.83, down 0.68% (224.45 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 12,096.63, down 1.79%

Tesla stock dropped as Elon Musk said he wants to slash 10% of staff at the EV maker because he's got a "super bad feeling" about the economy. According to Reuters, he sent a brief email to Tesla executives titled, "pause all hiring worldwide."

Meanwhile, Jim Chanos defended short sellers in a recent interview, shared his thoughts on investing in China and cryptocurrencies, and also cautioned against directly shorting tokens.

Overseas, Russia continues to maneuver to pull down the ruble after its wartime policy sent the currency soaring too high. A local Moscow broker shared his view of what's happening with the Russian economy.

India and Egypt are working to swap wheat for fertilizer and other goods to ease potential food shortages. Egypt's supply minister said he met with the Indian ambassador to go over a possible deal for 500,000 tons of wheat.

Oil moved higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.25% to $117.14 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved up 0.24% to $117.46 a barrel.

Gold edged lower 0.43% to 1,863.20 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield rose about five basis points to 2.964%.

Bitcoin fell 1.95% to $29.597.04.