September Jobs Report Shows Slowdown in Recovery

Here’s what you need to know:

• Wall Street drops after President Trump’s coronavirus disclosure.
• Chris Wallace of Fox News tells viewers: ‘Wear the damn mask.’
• Nancy Pelosi calls on airlines to delay job cuts and promises aid.
• Jobs report shows a slowdown in the recovery.
• What analysts said about how the positive test will impact markets.
• Tesla reported a big increase in sales in the third quarter.
• Catch up: James Bond movie is delayed to April 2021.

Wall Street drops after President Trump’s coronavirus disclosure.

Market Data by TradingView

• Investors were rattled Friday by the news that President Trump and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus. The development, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty, comes 32 days before an election that already has investors on edge.
• On Wall Street, trading was volatile, as lingering optimism about the prospects for an economic aid package from Washington helped offset nervousness. The S&P 500 ended about 1 percent lower, after earlier falling as much as 1.7 percent.
• The news of Mr. Trump’s diagnosis rocked other markets, too. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 ended slightly higher after a day spent mostly in negative territory. In Japan, where the news broke late in the trading day, stocks finished nearly 1 percent lower after erasing early gains.
• Oil futures also slid, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate, the two main benchmarks, down more than 4 percent.
• Investors are divided on the impact of the election, Trevor Greetham of Royal London Asset Management wrote in a note to clients Friday. “Where everyone agrees is that a close and contested outcome with a drawn-out period of rancor and instability would be bad news for markets,” he said. “If anything, the president’s illness makes that more likely.”
• Adding to the downbeat mood in markets, the U.S. Labor Department’s jobs report for September showed the improvement in the labor market was losing momentum. Employers added 661,000 jobs during the month, far fewer than in the previous months of the recovery.
• Investors had already been on edge about the economy, as lawmakers in Washington failed to reach an agreement on a new economic relief plan. House Democrats on Thursday pushed through a $2.2 trillion stimulus plan that would provide aid to families, schools, restaurants, businesses and airline workers, and on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed fresh optimism that a bipartisan deal for a broad coronavirus package could emerge out of her talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
• Technology stocks outpaced the broader decline. Shares of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft were lower by 3 percent or more, and the Nasdaq composite was also sharply lower.
• Shares of airlines rose after Ms. Pelosi promised to act in some way to extend an expired program. But gains in shares of American Airlines and United Airlines faded as the day went on.​