US Stock Market Overview – Stock as Volatility Continues to Rise

US stocks continued to experience volatility during the first week of September. The VIX volatility index climbed to the highest level since June. Most of the focus was directed to the US jobs numbers, which continue to rebound since tumbling in March and April. The question is whether the decelerating in jobs will weigh on stocks. Large-cap tech stocks continued to fall on Friday as large bets in the options markets that tech stocks would rise were unwound.

The VIX volatility index continues to climb, rising to the highest levels since June. Ahead of the jobs report, the Nasdaq was down by more than 1% which followed a 5% decline on Thursday. For the week, sectors were mixed, driven down by energy shares.

Payrolls Rise in Line with Expectations but Unemployment Rate Falls

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 1.37 million in August and the unemployment rate tumbled to 8.4%. The unemployment rate was by far the lowest since the coronavirus shutdown in March. Expectations were for a rise of 1.32 million jobs and the jobless rate to decline to 9.8% from 10.2% in July.