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Magnificent 7 Lose Over $300B As Volatility Index Surges, Traders Question Fed's Timing: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Wall Street is experiencing a sharp decline on the last trading day of the week, with all indices in the red at noon in New York, as a cooler-than-expected July jobs report rattled risk sentiment and sparked concerns that the Federal Reserve may have erred in delaying a rate cut until September. Nonfarm payrolls slowed to 114,000 in July, a decline of 65,000 from June and well below the expected 150,000. More alarmingly, the unemployment rate increased from 4.1% to 4.3%. As a result, market-implied probabilities over a 50-basis-point cut in September have spiked to 73%, according to CME Group FedWatch tool. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has entered a correction phase after surpassing a 10% drawdown since its July peak. Mega-cap, high-quality tech stocks offered no refuge to investors, as the Magnificent Seven giants all suffered losses except for Apple Inc., buoyed by an upbeat earnings report. Collectively, the Magnificent Seven lost over $300 billion in market value on Friday alone. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), popularly known as the market’s fear gauge, surged over 30% to reach the high-20 levels. Small caps ...