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* Nonfarm payrolls up by 225,000 in Jan. vs est. 160,000
* Uber rises after co targets profitability by end-2020
* Take-Two tumbles after revenue miss
* Indexes down: Dow 0.67%, S&P 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.14%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh
Feb 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street pulled back from record levels
on Friday after a four-day rally, as investors digested a report
that showed strength in the U.S. labor market, while keeping a
close eye on developments surrounding the coronavirus epidemic.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 225,000 jobs last month, the
Labor Department's data showed, much higher than 160,000 job
additions expected by economists polled by Reuters. The report follows a clutch of positive economic data this
week, including ADP's strong private payrolls report for last
month.
"The jobs report was largely as expected because ADP was a
blowout number. Today for the most part was baked in," said
Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo
Investment Institute in St. Louis.
The benchmark S&P 500 index is on pace for its best week in
eight months as China's efforts over the last few days to limit
the economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak lifted
sentiment.
The materials index .SPLRCM , which has outperformed most
S&P major sectors this week, was down 1.4%.
"The market is due for some sort of digestion of gains
before it continues to challenge the 30,000 level on the Dow
Jones Industrial Average," said Sam Stovall, chief investment
strategist at CFRA Research.
At 1:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
slipped 0.67% to 29,182.58. The S&P 500 .SPX dropped 0.26% to
3,337.11 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 0.14% at
9,559.00.
Key risks to the U.S. economy have receded, the Federal
Reserve said in its biannual policy report to the Congress, but
warned that the fast-spreading coronavirus "could lead to
disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global
economy."
The death toll in mainland China crossed 600 on Friday with
travel restricted and businesses shuttered across the country to
contain the spreading of the virus. More than 300 S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter
results so far, of which about 70% have topped earnings
estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc TTWO.O slumped 10.7%
after the videogame publisher missed estimates for quarterly
adjusted revenue. Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N climbed 9.4% after the
ride-hailing company moved forward by a year its target to
achieve a measure of profitability to the fourth quarter of
2020. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.64-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.90-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 67 new highs and 67 new lows.