NEW YORK (AP) – The stock market is edging lower in early trading Friday, despite a strong jobs report for October, putting the market in danger of declining for a ninth straight day as investors continues to focus on the U.S. presidential election.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 15 points, or 0.1 percent, 17,916 as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was little changed at 2,088 and the Nasdaq composite fell 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,056.
PRESIDENTIAL RACE: With five days left until the election, Hillary Clinton is still leading in national polling but Donald Trump appears to have narrowed the gap, particularly in swing states. Investors like certainty, and Clinton is seen as likely to maintain the status quo. Trump’s policies are less clear, and the uncertainty has caused jitters in financial markets.
ANALYST TAKE: “No one really knows what Trump would do should he get into power, probably not even himself,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG. “It is that uncertainty that is driving the market negativity that has dominated this week.”
JOBS BACKDROP: The declines happened despite data that showed U.S. employers added a decent 161,000 jobs in October and raised pay sharply for many workers. The Labor Department’s monthly employment report Friday sketched a picture of a resilient job market. The pace of hiring has been consistent with a decent economy. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent. And average hourly pay took a big step up, rising 10 cents an hour to an average of $25.92. That is 2.8 percent higher than a year ago and is the sharpest 12-month rise in seven years.