U.S. stocks edged lower on Tuesday as traders return to Wall Street for a shortened week off after Labor Day.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by the same margin, or about 100 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 0.5%. The moves come after three weeks of losses for the major averages.
“The market will enter the first full week of September looking to snap a three-week losing streak as investors continued to digest the Fed’s ‘we won’t back down’ message on the fight against inflation,” Chris Larkin, director trading manager at Morgan Stanley. E*TRADE said in a note on Tuesday.
“Bulls hoping for a comeback will do so during a shortened Labor Day week that has historically paralleled September and its track record of underperformance: Losses have been slightly rarer over the past three decades, but volatility has was higher”.
Treasuries rose as investors await the Federal Reserve’s next policy move later this month. The benchmark 10-year note climbed to 3.269%, while the 2-year Treasury note rose to yield 3.449%.
Oil prices eased after a temporary rally following OPEC+’s first supply cut in more than a year as the group works to manage global crude markets. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $86.44 a barrel while Brent futures fell 0.2% to $92.81.
In the cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) again fell below the $20,000 level.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY ) fell nearly 13% in early trading Tuesday morning. Last week, the home goods retailer announced in a strategic update that it would lay off staff and close approximately 150 stores as part of a turnaround effort for its struggling business.
Reports emerged this weekend that the company’s chief financial officer, Gustavo Arnal, died by suicide Friday afternoon after falling from a skyscraper in New York’s Tribeca area known as the “Jenga” tower. Before his death, Arnal was named in a $1.2 billion shareholder lawsuit alleging involvement in a “pump and dump” scheme.
“The company is in the early stages of evaluating the complaint, but based on current knowledge, the company believes the allegations are without merit,” a spokesperson for Bed Bath & Beyond told Yahoo Finance.
Shares of Digital World Acquisition ( DWAC ) fell more than 17% after the special-purpose acquisition company slated to merge with former President Donald Trump’s social media platform failed to garner enough shareholder support to extend the deadline to complete the agreement.
Tuesday’s moves come after the Labor Department released its latest monthly jobs report for August on Friday. The US economy added a recent 315,000 jobs as the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, according to government data.
“The modest slowdown in employment growth in August may be welcome by the Fed, but will not prevent further significant rate hikes in the months ahead,” Nancy Vanden Houten and Kathy Bostjancic of Oxford Economics said in a note on Friday . “Fed Chairman Powell made it clear last week that the FOMC plans to push rates well into accommodative territory to lower inflation and prevent a softening of inflationary expectations.”
Bank of America strategists led by Michael Hartnett warned on Friday of a “quick inflation hit” and “slow recession hit,” with investors anticipating continued monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.
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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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