U.S. stocks wobbled lower as Wall Street questioned whether the U.S. job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way.
After rising to an early gain Friday, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3% from the all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly flat.
Still, more stocks rose than fell. The action was more decisive in the bond market, where yields tumbled following discouraging data on the job market.
The S&P 500 fell 20.58 points, or 0.3%, to 6,481.50.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 220.43 points, or 0.5%, to 45,400.86.
The Nasdaq composite fell 7.31 points, or less than 0.1%, to 21,700.39.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.43 points, or 0.5%, to 2,391.05.