US Stocks Record Third Consecutive Weekly Loss But Market Volatility Decreases

U.S. equity markets ended the trading week on a negative note despite better-than-expected data on nonfarm payrolls.

Data released Friday showed the US economy added 315,000 jobs last month, beating average economist estimates of 298,000 jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate, however, increased to 3.7%, missing the 3.5% level economists had projected. Wages were up 5.2% year-over-year and increased 0.3% from July.

However, all gains faded amid renewed concerns over the Nord Stream pipeline. Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, which was earlier scheduled to resume natural gas flow through the pipeline to Germany on Sept. 3, said Friday that it will postpone the resumption, claiming that leaks were discovered while inspecting a compressor station.

All the three major indices recorded their third weekly loss in a row, with the Dow dropping around 3%, and the S&P 500 down around 3.3%. Markets in the US were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

The Nasdaq 100 dipped 1.44% to close at 12,098.44 on Friday amid a decline in Apple Inc. AAPL and Meta Platforms, Inc. META shares. The S&P 500 fell 1.07%, while the Dow Jones declined around 338 points to settle at 31,318.44 in the previous session.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a lower note, with communication services and real estate stocks recording the biggest decline on Friday. Energy sector, however, bucked the overall market trend, gaining around 1.8% in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.35% to close at 25.47 points on Friday.

What is CBOE Volatility Index?

The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as VIX, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index call and put options.