Investing.com -- U.S. stocks moved broadly lower on Friday, as solid employment figures for July ostensibly bolstered hawkish arguments for an imminent interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve before the end of the fall.
On Friday morning, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of non-farm payrolls in the nation during the month of July increased by 215,000, in line with consensus estimates of a 212,000 gain. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3%, while a broader measure of unemployment, which takes into account workers marginally attached to the labor force who are no longer actively seeking employment, fell more than 2% on a year-over-year basis to under 10.5%.
Dwindling energy stocks weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) finished among the worst performers, after crude futures slipped below $44 a barrel for the first time in nearly six months. For the day, the Dow lost 46.37 or 0.27% to 17,373.38 for its seventh straight losing session. The Dow remains near its lowest level since February.
The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index also ended the week on a down note, each closing lower for the second straight day. The NASDAQ lost 12.90 or 0.26% to close at 5,043.54, while the S&P 500 dipped 5.99 or 0.29% to 2,077.57, as eight of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Energy and Basic Materials industries lagged, each falling by more than 1.6 % on the session.
The top performer on the Dow was American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which surged 4.90 or 6.53% to 79.90 after private equity firm ValueAct Capital Management reportedly declared an activist stake in the credit card giant, according to Bloomberg. The worst performer was Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which fell 1.53 or 2.10% to 71.26.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), after the Silicon Valley-based semiconductor company, posted stronger than expected quarterly results on the back of a 51% revenue spike generated by its GeForce graphics processors. Nvidia gained 2.52 or 12.32% to end the session at 22.97. The worst performer was CONSOL Energy Inc (NYSE:CNX), which fell 1.14 or 7.98% to 13.15 amid the continued downturn in crude prices.
Nvidia was also the top performer on the S&P 500, ahead of Coach Inc (NYSE:COH) which rose 1.53 or 4.85% to 33.09. Consol Energy finished as the S&P 500's worst performer, as well, just below Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW), which continues to struggle after posting disappointing earnings earlier this week. Shares in Genworth Financial plunged more than 7.3% to 4.84.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,853 to a 1,294 margin.