news/GOOGL/2023.02.03/Wall St pares declines after stunning jobs report.txt

(Corrects paragraph 14 to say Michael Matousek is a head trader
at U.S. Global Investors Inc)*U.S. job growth accelerates in Jan, jobless rate ticks
down*Amazon, Alphabet fall on disappointing results*Ford drops on downbeat outlook*Indexes down: Dow 0.17%, S&P 0.63%, Nasdaq 0.82%Feb 3 (Reuters) -U.S. stock indexes pared declines by afternoon on Friday as
a strong jobs report that initially raised fears of the Federal
Reserve keeping interest rates higher for longer also pointed to
the resilience in the economy in the face of aggressive policy
tightening.The Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report showed
517,000 job additions in January, almost three times above
expectations, while the unemployment rate hit 3.4%, its lowest
since 1969.Separately, data showed that theU.S. servicesindustry's activity rebounded strongly in January."The data suggests an economy that is running cooler
than half a year ago, but not falling off the cliff," Bill
Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank said."The outlook is cloudy, but the backward-looking data
shows 2023 began on a stronger footing than seemed the case a
few weeks ago."Money markets expect the U.S. central bank to hike rates two
more times before stopping, after the Fed raised its target rate
by 25 basis points on Wednesday. Rates are seen peaking at 4.95%
by June, compared with 4.91% earlier.Investors also parsed disappointing earnings, with
Amazon.com Inc sliding 5.8% as it warned that its
operating profit could fall to zero in the current quarter.Google parent Alphabet Inc dropped 2.0% as it
missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter results.Markets rallied in the previous session on Fed Chair Jerome
Powell's repeated references to the "disinflationary" process
being underway in his remarks after Wednesday's meeting.Apple Inc forecast another revenue decline at the
start of the year, but the iPhone maker reversed course to trade
2.7% higher.Tesla Inc jumped 3.0% after the U.S. Treasury
Department said that some of its Model Y variants would be
eligible for tax credits.Wall Street's main indexes have had a solid start to the
year as megacap growth stocks, which took a beating last year,
rose on hopes that the Fed's hiking spree will come to an end
this year.The Nasdaq eyed its fifth consecutive weekly
advance, its best streak since October 2021."If the Fed is indeed less hawkish and the economy is doing
well, you would want to own the big names, why sit on the
sidelines?," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global
Investors Inc.At 1:01 p.m. ET, the Dow was down 58.67 points, or
0.17%, at 33,995.27 and the S&P 500 was down 26.21
points, or 0.63%, at 4,153.55.The Nasdaq Composite was down 99.50 points, or
0.82%, at 12,101.32.Ford Motor Co slid 6.6% after missing quarterly
earnings expectations while also warning of a rocky year ahead.Analysts now see fourth-quarter earnings of S&P 500 firms
declining 2.7%, according to Refinitiv.Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.03-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded 15 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 103 new highs and eight new lows.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Johann M Cherian; Additional
reporting by Shubham Batra; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Maju
Samuel)