Shares lowered first gains on Friday following the monthly employment report showing U.S. job losses in December as investors continued to look ahead to the prospect of an additional fiscal stimulus.
The S&P 500 stock index added 0.4%, while the high-tech Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.1%, or about 20 points, driven in part by a decline in shares of the 3M industrial conglomerate.
All three indices closed Thursday as investors focused on the government’s most spending potential following victories in Georgia’s qualifiers that will give Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, the growing coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the economy. The Department of Labor report showed Friday that the United States laid off 140,000 jobs in December, ending seven months of job growth.
“To date, investors continue to look beyond the weakness of this report and other economic data because they are confident that more fiscal stimulus will arrive,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. “And as the vaccine is distributed, that will only be temporary and hopefully we will be able to overcome the weakness of that number in the not-too-distant future.”