Investing.com – U.S. stocks fell Wednesday, pointing to an extension of the sharp losses seen in the previous session on economic slowdown concerns.
At 09:35 EST (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 14 points, or 0.3%, and the NASDAQ Composite slumped 105 points, or 0.6%.
The main Wall Street indices suffered a sharp selloff on Tuesday as U.S. investors returned from the Labor Day holiday, on the back of disappointing manufacturing activity data that fueled concerns over the economic outlook.
Nvidia continues to slide
Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock dropped 2%, continuing to fall after suffering on Tuesday the biggest one-day drop ever, slumping over 9% and wiping out $279 billion in market cap.
It was reported during after the close Tuesday that the DOJ sent subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies, in a move that escalates the investigation into the dominant AI computing provider. Nvidia shares fell 1% in premarket trade.
The volatility in the market is palpable as investors await the crucial U.S. jobs report due on Friday, which is anticipated to provide insights into the American economy’s health and potentially influence the Federal Reserve’s pace in adjusting interest rates.
Ahead of the jobs report, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which economists consider to be a proxy for broader labor demand, is due later in the session and is tipped to show that the number of available roles decreased in July to 8.090 million.
In June, the number inched down modestly to 8.184 million.
Corporate earnings continue
In individual stock movements, Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) shares dropped 16% despite suggestions that its outlook might be conservative.
Asana (NYSE:ASAN) stock fell 12% after reporting a challenging quarter and announcing a change in its CFO. Pagerduty (NYSE:PD) also saw its shares decline by 14% after reducing its revenue forecast.
On a positive note, Clover Health Investments Corp (NASDAQ:CLOV) shares gained 8.7% as its Counterpart Unit secured a contract from the Iowa Clinic, and Gitlab (NASDAQ:GTLB) stock increased by 16% following strong results and an uplifted forecast.
Market participants are holding their breath for the upcoming August U.S. jobs report, which is expected to play a key role in the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to implement a rate cut of 25 basis points or 50 on September 18.
Crude slips on growth concerns
Crude prices slipped lower Wednesday, adding to the previous session’s selloff, amid growth concerns and expectations that Libyan exports could reenter the market.
By 09:35 ET, the Brent contract dropped 0.8% to $73.15 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.8% lower at $69.80 a barrel, after both contracts dropped more than 4% on Tuesday.
Both contracts fell to their lowest since December on signs of a deal to resolve the political dispute between rival factions in Libya that cut output by about half and curbed exports.
(Senad Karaahmetovic contributed to this article.)
