Dow tumbles 630 points as Fed pivot hopes fade after solid jobs report

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday as a solid September jobs report fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve would continue to be aggressive with rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 630.15 points, or 2.11 percent, to 29,296.79. The S&P 500 decreased 104.86 points, or 2.80 percent, to 3,639.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 420.91 points, or 3.80 percent, to 10,652.40.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and consumer discretionary down 4.14 percent and 3.54 percent, respectively, leading the losses.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in September amid a still tight labor market, with the unemployment rate edging down to 3.5 percent.

"The tighter labor conditions will likely keep the Fed on track for another aggressive rate hike next month," LPL Financial Chief Economist Jeffrey Roach said in a note on Friday.

Investors have been worried that rapid central bank policy tightening could throw the economy into a recession.

Earlier this week, Wall Street posted a strong two-day run as a slew of weak economic data raised hopes that the Fed could pivot to a less aggressive stance sooner than expected.

For the week, the Dow rose 2 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed 1.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.