IMO - Stocks Take Beating on Rate Hikes Jitters

Stocks slid on Thursday after better-than-expected jobs data increased investors' anxiety around the state of the economy and path of interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrials slumbered 352.97 points, or 1%, to conclude Thursday at 33,935.67.

The S&P 500 decreased 35.23 points to 4,411.59.

The NASDAQ index retreated 112.61 points to 13,679.04.

JetBlue Airways tumbled more than 6% after the company announced it would end its partnership in the northeast U.S. with American Airlines to focus on Spirit Airlines. American shares moved 2% lower, while Spirit rose more than 1%.

Private sector jobs increased by 497,000 in June, according to data from payroll processing firm ADP, in the biggest monthly gain since July 2022. June's increase was more than double the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 220,000 gained and far better than the downwardly revised 267,000-job addition seen in May.

The ADP data, which is often unreliable and more volatile than other jobs data, comes ahead of Friday's official June payrolls report.

Economists are expecting 240,000 non-farm payrolls were added last month, a slowing from the 339,000 jobs added in May, according to Dow Jones.

However, traders may now be expecting a hotter number that leads to the Fed resuming its hiking campaign this month after a pause at the June meeting. Traders are pricing in an approximately 92% chance of a hike at the central bank's meeting later this month.

Job openings fell more than expected in May, according to a U.S. Labor Department report. That data can provide hope that the job market may be cooling.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped sharply, raising yields to 4.04% from Wednesday's 3.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices shifted gears and gained seven cents to $71.86U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices dumped $10.90 to $1,916.20 U.S. an ounce.