Stocks Turned Lower, Erasing Opening Gains

U.S. stocks turned lower, earsing opening gains on Friday as a disappointing payrolls report had Wall Street rethinking the notion that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting its bond purchases later this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 85.83 points, or 0.57%, to 14,851.65. The S&P 500 index shed 6.28 points, or 0.38%, to 1,648.80. The Nasdaq Composite was off 18.96 points, or 0.52%, to 3,639.82.

Employers added 169,000 jobs in August and July’s figure was revised sharply lower to 104,000, suggesting the labor-market recovery isn’t gaining strength and potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to start dialing back its support for the economy. In its monthly employment report released Friday, the Labor Department lowered the combined tally for job gains in June and July by 74,000. The nation’s unemployment rate stood at 7.3%
in August, down slightly from 7.4% in July.

Leaders of the world’s biggest economies at a Group of 20 summit in Russia discussed efforts to shield their economies from potential stimulus withdrawal as the fallout from the Syrian conflict amplified global risks.

Treasury 10-year note yields rose to 3 percent for the first time in two years as a strengthening U.S. employment market increases speculation the Federal Reserve will announce plans to slow its bond-buying program this month.

The market for student loans suffered another blow on Thursday when J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the nation’s largest lender by assets, said it is getting out of the business.