Equity futures are pointing to a lower open after the February jobs report fell well short of the Wall Street estimate.
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The Labor Department reports the U.S. economy added 20,000 jobs in February, missing the expectation for 180,000 jobs by a wide margin. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate came to 63.2 percent.
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Dow Jones futures were down by 0.8 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.9 percent.
In other economic news, Home building in the U.S. jumped in January, eventhough mortgages rates rose, the market gained momentum. The Commerce Department says housing starts rose 18.6% in January from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.230 million.
Markets are also reacting to the fact Chinese exports dropped the most in three years, while imports fell for a third straight month.
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China’s February exports fell 20.7 percent from a year earlier, the largest decline since February 2016, customs data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 4.8 percent drop after January’s unexpected 9.1 percent jump.
Chinese stocks sank over 4 percent on Friday, in their worst day in five months.
China’s Shanghai Composite fell 4.4 percent, Hong Kong’s hang Seng lost 2 percent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.5 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE traded lower by 1 percent, Germany’s DAX is down 0.8 percent and France’s CAC is off 0.7 percent.
Stocks have been volatile, reacting to any news concerning a possible trade deal between the U.S. and China.
Ngeotiators have been trying to complete a deal so that President trump and china’s leader Xi jinping can meet to sign it
Trump postponed a sharp U.S. tariff hike slated for early March as the talks progressed, but both Washington and Beijing have kept previous duties in place.
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White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has told FOX News “there is hope that perhaps by the end of this month or early April the two leaders will get together and finalize an agreement.” But Kudlow has said nothing is written in cement.
There is no official date. However, FOX News was told that a date has been identified for when a meeting could happen.
