Weak non-agricultural data put pressure on US stocks, and Fed officials voiced s

* U.S. stocks closed lower across the board, with the Nasdaq recording its worst weekly performance since 2022;

* 142,000 new jobs added in August, several Federal Reserve officials support interest rate cuts;

* Buffett sells more Bank of America shares;

* Concerns over slowing demand pressure oil prices, which fell 8% this week in total.

As the market weighed the non-farm payroll data, U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 410.34 points, or 1.01%, to close at 40,345.41; the Nasdaq Composite fell 436.83 points, or 2.55%, to close at 16,690.83; the S&P 500 index fell 94.99 points, or 1.73%, to close at 5,408.42.

In terms of sectors, due to investors' concerns about the health of the U.S. economy and the selling of risk assets, large-cap tech stocks declined. Amazon closed down 3.65%, Alphabet fell 4%, and Meta Platforms dropped over 3%. The semiconductor sector declined due to Broadcom's negative earnings report, with Nvidia and AMD shares falling 4% each, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF down 4%, recording its worst weekly performance since March 2020.

For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average accumulated a decline of 2.9%, the Nasdaq Composite accumulated a decline of 5.8%, marking its worst weekly performance since 2022, and the S&P 500 index accumulated a decline of 4.3%, recording its worst weekly performance since March 2023.

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In terms of Chinese concept stocks, the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index closed down 0.77%. Zhihu fell 6.41%, iQIYI fell 2.97%, XPeng Motors fell 3.28%, Li Auto fell 2.92%, Baidu fell 2.17%, Alibaba fell 1.52%, JD.com fell 1.18%, New Oriental fell 0.73%, and NIO rose 3.51%.

In terms of economic data, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor, 142,000 new non-farm jobs were added in August, below the expected 161,000; the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, in line with expectations. Although the labor force participation rate remained at 62.7%, the number of workers in the labor force increased by 120,000, pushing the unemployment rate down.From an industry perspective, the construction sector led the gains, adding 34,000 jobs, the healthcare industry increased by 31,000, and social assistance saw an increase of 13,000. In terms of wages, the average hourly earnings in August grew by 0.4% month-on-month and 3.8% year-on-year, both exceeding market expectations.

The market generally believes that this data will influence the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the market estimates a 69% probability of the Federal Reserve cutting rates by 25 basis points at this month's meeting, with a 31% chance of a 50 basis point cut.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller expressed support for the Federal Reserve's rate cut this month and stated that he would be open to a substantial rate cut if necessary. He said that, given the achievements and ongoing progress in inflation, as well as the slowdown in the labor market, the Federal Reserve should lower the target range for the federal funds rate at the upcoming meetings.

New York Fed President John Williams stated that as the economy is now in a balanced state and inflation is moving towards the 2% target, it is appropriate to reduce the degree of policy tightening by cutting interest rates now.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee indicated that the market should not focus solely on the September meeting; it is more important to look at the plan for multiple rate cuts in the next few meetings. He also said in an interview that high interest rates should not be maintained in the face of a weak job market.

Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius believes that, despite the possibility of a 50 basis point rate cut, the Federal Reserve is more likely to cut rates by 25 basis points at the September meeting and expects three consecutive rate cuts by the end of the year, each by 25 basis points. Previously, JPMorgan Chase stated that the Federal Reserve should raise rates by 50 basis points at this month's interest rate meeting to restore neutrality as soon as possible. Waiting for inflation to return to 2% might take too long.

Buffett Sells More Bank of America Shares

On the corporate front, chip giant Broadcom Inc.'s stock closed down 10.36% at $137 per share. Despite the company's overall performance exceeding expectations, its revenue outlook for the fourth fiscal quarter fell short of market expectations, putting pressure on the stock price. Broadcom reported earnings per share of $1.24 and revenue of $13.07 billion in the third fiscal quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue forecast for the current quarter is $14 billion, slightly below the expected level. Notably, Broadcom's growth in the artificial intelligence sector was a highlight of this earnings report, showing strong market demand for AI chips, but the slowdown in non-AI business growth dragged down overall expectations.

However, Goldman Sachs maintains an optimistic outlook. Despite the sell-off of Broadcom's stock, the bank's analyst Toshiya Hari reiterated the buy rating for Qualcomm, believing that investors should view this as a "minor setback" rather than a cause for concern. Hari expects the AI semiconductor business to accelerate again, coupled with the cyclical recovery of non-AI revenue streams, allowing the company to return to a pace of exceeding expectations.

According to regulatory filings, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway continues to sell Bank of America shares, selling 18.7 million shares at a price of about $760 million from Monday to Wednesday. Currently, Berkshire has sold nearly $7 billion worth of bank stocks, reducing its stake to 11.1%. Bank of America's stock closed down 2.81%.Concerns over slowing demand put pressure on oil prices, which fell by 8% this week in total.

In the commodity market, oil prices plummeted, driven by concerns about slowing demand. The plan reached by major oil-producing countries this week to delay increasing oil production failed to provide support for the crude oil market. The settlement price of WTI crude oil futures for delivery in October fell by 2.1%, closing at $67.67 per barrel, the lowest level since June 12, 2023, with a weekly drop of 8%. The settlement price of Brent crude oil futures for delivery in November fell by 2.2%, closing at $71.06 per barrel, the lowest level since December 3, 2021, with a weekly drop of 7.6%.

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