Significant price losses on Wall Street after important jobs report

The Dow Jones index fell 1.6 percent to 41,938.45 points. The broad S&P 500 index lost 1.5 percent to 5827.04 points. Tech indicator Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent to 19,161.63 points.

The jobs report showed that the world’s largest economy added 256,000 jobs in December. Unemployment in the US stood at 4.1 percent last month, compared to 4.2 percent a month earlier. The US central bank bases its interest rate policy, among other things, on labor market figures.

The Fed will make a new interest rate decision later this month. When cutting interest rates last month, the Fed said it expected fewer interest rate cuts this year than previously thought.

Delta Air Lines rose 9 percent. The airline delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance. It is the first major American airline to report results for the last quarter of 2024.

Warner Bros. Discovery fell 3.6 percent. The media group previously wanted to set up a sports streaming service with Walt Disney and Fox, Venu Sports, but the companies scrapped those plans. Walt Disney and Fox fell to 1.6 percent on Wall Street.

The euro was worth 1.0245 dollars, against 1.0231 at the close of the European stock markets. A barrel of American oil cost 3.7 percent more at $76.68. Brent oil became 3.7 percent more expensive at $79.77 per barrel.