DJI: Dow Jones Heads for Worst Week in a Year After Sharp 500-Point Selloff

Wall Street is looking for cover ahead of today’s jobs report and all major indexes are feeling the heat.

Key Points:

• Dow Jones falls 530 points in one day.
• Fed officials cast shadow over rate cuts.
• Can today’s jobs report bring back light?
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI is on its way to close out the worst week in a year after a sharp U-turn on Thursday. The 30-stock blue-chip index pressed higher in the early hours of the session only to give up the gains and dive into a selloff, which stripped off 530 points, or over 1.3%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were also in the red by a similar percentage loss.
• Clouded rate cut outlook was behind the bruising trading session yesterday. Investors were running for cover after a lineup of Federal Reserve officials struck a cautious tone over the prospects of interest rate cuts. Eight policymakers at the central bank spooked investors. The Fed’s Neel Kashkari topped it off, saying rate cuts might not happen at all if inflation stays stubborn.
• Today markets are bracing for the highlight of the week — jobs report. The nonfarm payrolls for March are expected to show a gain of 189,000 in payrolls. It’s a cool reading that would assuage investor fears over a heating economy and further strengthen the rate-cut narrative. Futures contracts tied to the major stock averages were flashing green early Friday.