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U.S. stocks close slightly lower after jobs data

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U.S. stocks close slightly lower after jobs data

STORY: Wall Street’s main indexes ended slightly lower on Friday after stronger-than-expected jobs data pointed to a robust economy but prompted worries the Federal Reserve could wait longer to cut interest rates.

The Dow dipped about two-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 shed one-tenth and the Nasdaq lost two-tenths.

A Labor Department report showed the economy added far more jobs than expected in May. But the unemployment rate also ticked up slightly to 4%.

Also grabbing headlines Friday, a livestream from GameStop stock influencer Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, who appeared on YouTube for the first time in three years.

Put it all together – along with recent record highs for the S&P and Nasdaq – and Friday’s stock losses were not surprising, says Alexander Morris, CEO of F/m Investments.

“It’s been kind of a crazy week of highs and everyone needed a break. Put on top of that, Keith Gill decides to make an appearance again – and the market just decided, you know what, ending the day not too far off of zero was kind of a fair way to end, end this part. And don’t forget we’re going to the summer season where things just get a little slower. So, I think we should expect more of this sort of behavior for the next few weeks.”

GameStop slumped 39% in volatile trading as Gill addressed his YouTube crowd. The gaming retailer had announced a potential stock offering and a drop in quarterly sales.

Other so-called meme stocks fell, with AMC Entertainment shedding 15% and Koss Corp plunging nearly 17.5%.

And shares of Nvidia slipped marginally, its market cap back below the $3 trillion mark.

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