S&P 500 Falls For 9th Straight Day Ahead Of US Elections

NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 05th Nov, 2016 ) - The S&P 500 index fell Friday for the ninth straight day, with anxiety over the close White House race dragging equities markets down heading into the final weekend before the vote.

The fall came despite relatively good news about the health of US jobs markets. The Labor Department reported Friday that the US economy had added a solid 161,000 new jobs in October while the unemployment rate edged lower to 4.9 percent, a result which analysts said pointed to general all-around health in the economy and suggested the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates next month.

The S&P closed down 0.

2 percent at 2,085.18. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent to 17,888.28 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also lost 0.2 percent to settle at 5,046.37.

Uncertainty about next week's bitterly fought elections has roiled markets ever since the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed on October 28 that it had uncovered new emails potentially tied to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Ohio-based consumer goods company Procter & Gamble was among the heaviest losers of the day, finishing down 1.8 percent at $85.08, erasing much of the gains made since reporting stronger third-quarter earnings last week.