- Following a barrage of conflicting jobs and US service sector statistics, investors held onto bets that a March rate decrease was still on the table, which contributed to the gloomy start to the year for equities.
- The S&P 500 ended the stock market's worst week since late October with a 0.2% rise on Friday, ending the benchmark for the equity market's nine-week bull run. The Nasdaq 100 also managed a modest gain after five days of losses.
- After an early rally on data showing the US service sector slowed in December but stayed over a critical level that implies expansion, stocks lost some of their steam.
- The yield on the 10-year touched 4.04% during Friday's erratic session, as Treasuries continued their weekly decline. US bond rates were whipped around following previous data showing nonfarm payrolls increased by 216,000 in December, a higher gain than anticipated, and the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%.
