IXIC: Nasdaq Futures Float Flat After Jobs Day Tanks Stocks with 275,000 Hires in February

Tech-loaded index is slow to power up again after a Friday setback triggered by another scorcher following January’s big number.

• Nasdaq futures point higher Monday.
• 275,000 jobs added in February.
• Nvidia was first out the door.
• Futures contracts tied to the Nasdaq Composite IXIC floated flat and unchanged after Friday’s session knocked the wind out of stocks with the tech-heavy index dropping 1.1%. Last week’s final trading day was Jobs Day and markets were anticipating a cool breeze of about 198,000 Americans joining the nonfarm payroll. But no breeze was there—just more rough and tumble, which proved how far off analysts can be.
• The US economy added 275,000 new workers in February, far beyond consensus views. What’s more, the readout added to a growing trend of a heating-up job market with January’s scorcher of 353,000 hires. On the positive side, wage growth slowed, lifting hopes of a stable post-inflation economy without a dip into recession. In other words, a soft landing might be playing out.
• Back to stocks, technology giants were the first to feel the pain Friday. The so-called Magnificent Seven pack got bruised the most, with Nvidia NVDA losing 5.6% on the day. Shares of the formidable chip maker are still up 80% on the year. Facebook parent Meta META and battered EV maker Tesla TSLA washed out more than 1% each.