Equity markets ended the trading week in a three-day depression after an upbeat Monday and Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 3.8%, 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively after non-farm payrolls increased by 263,000, a 17% decrease from August, but more than the projected 250,000. Slackening employment and manufacturing indicators earlier in the week had given investors hope of the sort of economic slowdown that would enable the Federal Reserve to scale back its current diet of hawkish interest rate hikes.
