U.S. Stocks Wobble as Investors Await Friday's Jobs Report

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks wobbled as investors tried to snap a three-day decline ahead of Friday’s jobs report for August.

At 10:36 ET (14:36 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19 points or 0.1% while the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.2%.

Analysts expect Friday’s jobs report to show the economy added 300,000 nonfarm jobs for the month. An early glimpse came Wednesday with the ADP private payroll report, which showed an addition of 132,000 positions, which was below expectations.

Stocks have been on a losing streak since last Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank would do whatever it takes to tame inflation. That has raised expectations that the Fed will continue its aggressive interest rate increases, which has weighed on growth stocks.

Many believe the Fed will raise by another 0.75 percentage point when it meets next month, though some see a smaller half-point cut.

Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) stock jumped 10% after the social media company confirmed that it was cutting 20% of its workforce and canceling some of its projects, including a photo-taking drone and Snap Originals shows. It is also winding down the Zenly and Voisey apps.

Bed Bath&Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) shares fell 23% after the home goods retailer outlined its strategic plan, including that it has obtained $500 million in financing and would shut 150 stores and 20% of its workers.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 2% to $89.62 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures was down 2%, to $95.80 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 0.2% to $1732.