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Hewlett Packard ( HPE ) slumps after dour second-quarter forecasts

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Nonfarm payrolls increase by 151,000 in February

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Indexes down: Dow 0.17%, S&P 500 0.38%, Nasdaq 0.58%

(Updates with comments from Fed Chair Powell)

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

March 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes traded

off session lows on Friday as investors assessed comments from

Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid economic uncertainty fanned by the

Trump administration's tariff policies.

Powell said the Federal Reserve will take a cautious

approach to monetary policy easing, adding that the economy

currently "continues to be in a good place".

"But they (the Fed) may not be able to do anything in terms

of lowering rates because while the economy is slowing,

inflation is a problem," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice

president at Wealthspire Advisors.

At 01:00 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 71.45 points, or 0.17%, to 42,507.63, the S&P 500

lost 21.91 points, or 0.38%, to 5,716.61 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 104.92 points, or 0.58%, to 17,961.85.

Cyclical sectors such as consumer discretionary

fell 1.8%, while banks such as Wells Fargo ( WFC ) and Goldman

Sachs ( GS ) declined, pushing the broader banks index

down 1.9%.

Most megacaps also dropped. Meta and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

fell more than 3% each.

Earlier in the day, a Labor Department report showed job

growth picked up in February from the previous month. However,

unemployment ticked up to 4.1%, adding to worries about the

economy's resilience.

Following the data, traders revised their expectations of

the first interest rate cut this year to June from May,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

Adding to the dour sentiment, brokerages Morgan Stanley and

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) lowered their growth forecasts for the economy.

Equities witnessed their most volatile week this year, with

Wall Street's fear gauge trading near levels not seen

since mid-December, as traders tried to assess President Donald

Trump's fluctuating trade policy.

In the previous session, the Nasdaq confirmed a 10% drop

from its December all-time high, while the benchmark S&P 500

appeared to have reversed most of its gains since Trump's

election victory.

The indexes, along with the blue-chip Dow, are on

track for their biggest weekly drop since September. Equity

funds witnessed the largest weekly outflow in four weeks in the

week ended on March 5.

Trump on Thursday offered a four-week reprieve on tariffs he

imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under a

free-trade pact, but the U.S. is still in a trade war with

China. Additionally, reciprocal trade barriers and other duties

are expected to take effect in the following weeks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) slumped 15.8% after

saying its annual profit forecast would be hit by U.S. tariffs.

Costco fell 7% after the retailer missed Street

estimates on quarterly earnings as merchandise costs increased.

Broadcom ( AVGO ), on the other hand, rose 5.5% after the

chipmaker assuaged investor worries about artificial

intelligence infrastructure demand with a strong second-quarter

forecast.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.18-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and 13 new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 18 new highs and 140 new

lows.