Nasdaq Down Over 300 Points; US Economy Lost 92,000 Jobs In February

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 300 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 1.62% to 47,179.83 while the NASDAQ fell 1.47% to 22,414.12. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.38% to 6,736.10.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, financial stocks dipped by 2.2%.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy lost 92,000 nonfarm payrolls in February 2026, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure marked a sharp slowdown from January’s downwardly revised 126,000 job gains and came well below economists’ expectations of 59,000.

The unemployment rate surprisingly ticked up from 4.3% to 4.4%, above forecasts of 4.3%. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 0.4% month-over-month, matching January’s pace and topping consensus estimates of 0.3%.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Peraso Inc (NASDAQ:PRSO) shares shot up 99% to $1.61 after the company announced InTACT selected its 60 GHz millimeter-wave technology for a new drone Identification Friend or Foe system.
• Shares of Day One Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DAWN) got a boost, surging 66% to $21.16 after the company announced it will be acquired by Servier.
• Battalion Oil Corp (NYSE:BATL) shares were also up, gaining 42% to $26.94.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc (NYSE:CLDI) shares dropped 51% to $0.38 after the company announced the pricing of its $5.2 million offering of 10.5 million shares.
• Shares of CCH Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:CCHH) were down 47% to $0.54.
• eLong Power Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:ELPW) was down, falling 41% to $0.046 after the company announced a 1-for-80 share consolidation.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 8.3% to $87.74 while gold traded up 0.4% at $5,099.00.

Silver traded up 0.5% to $82.625 on Friday, while copper fell 0.1% to $5.7970.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 1.7%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 1.6%. London's FTSE 100 fell 1.4%, Germany's DAX dipped 1.7% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.5% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.62%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gaining 1.72%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.38% and India's BSE Sensex dipping 1.37%.

Economics

• The US Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index rose 0.8% month-over-month in February compared to a 2.4% gain in the previous month.
• U.S. retail sales fell by 0.2% from the previous month in January, compared to market estimates of a 0.3% decline.
• The U.S. economy lost 92,000 nonfarm payrolls in February 2026, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure marked a sharp slowdown from January’s downwardly revised 126,000 job gains and came well below economists’ expectations of 59,000.
• The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% to 4.4%, above forecasts of 4.3%.
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% month-over-month, matching January’s pace and topping consensus estimates of 0.3%.

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