Major US stock indexes completed today's trading near the zero mark

The main US stock indexes traded mixed, but the session ended almost unchanged. The dynamics of the trades were affected by the fall in quotations of Costco and shares in the energy sector, along with negative sentiment due to a report that reflected the decline in employment in the US for the first time in seven years.

So, the number of employees in the US fell in September, as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left the displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring, which was the last indication that hurricanes undermine economic activity in the third quarter. The Ministry of Labor reported that the number of people employed in the non-agricultural sector fell by 33,000 amid a record fall in employment in the leisure and hospitality sector. Economists predicted an increase in employment by 90,000. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percent, to 4.2 percent, the lowest since February 2001. The average hourly earnings increased by 0.5 percent after an increase of 0.2 percent in August. This pushed the annual salary growth to 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent in August.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in the red (16 of 30). Outsider were shares of Verizon Communications Inc., (VZ, -1.93%). The leader of growth was the shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV, + 0.49%).

Almost all S & P sectors recorded a decline. The largest decrease was in the base resources sector (-0.8%). The technological sector grew the most (+ 0.2%)

At closing:

Dow -0.01% 22.773.67 -1.72

Nasdaq + 0.07% 6,590.18 +4.82

S & P -0.11% 2.549.33 -2.74