Stock market live Friday: Late-day comeback, Apple ekes out small gain, Nasdaq falls 6% in 2 days

• The Dow fell 159 points, or 0.56%, its second negative session in a row
• The Dow fell 1.82% this week, for its worst weekly performance since June 26 and second negative week in three
• Salesforce.com had the most negative impact on the Dow, accounting for 70 points against the index
• The S&P 500 fell 28 points, or 0.81%, its second negative session in a row 
• The S&P fell 2.31% this week, breaking a five-week win streak with its worst weekly performance since June 26
• Amazon had the most negative impact on the SPY, accounting for 0.37 points against the ETF.   
• The Nasdaq Composite fell 145 points, or 1.27%, its second negative session in a row
• The Nasdaq fell 3.27% this week, breaking a five-week win streak with its worst weekly performance since March 20 when it fell 12.64%
• Eight of 11 S&P sectors were negative in Friday's session, led to the downside by communication services, which fell 1.92%; financials was the best performer, up 0.77%. 
• The VIX hit a high of 38.28, its highest level since June 15 when it hit a high of 44.44. — Christopher Hayes, Yun L

The market staged a late-day comeback before the holiday weekend, powered by a strong rally in cyclical stocks. The Dow ended the session about 150 points lower after dropping as much as 628 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 dipped 0.8%, well off its session low when it fell 3%. The Nasdaq Composite finished the day 1.2% lower as many major tech names pared steep losses. Apple eked out a 0.1% gain. — Yun Li

CNBC's Jim Cramer called Tesla's late-day reversal a "very positive sign" for the broader market. Shares of the electric car-maker erased a loss of 8.6% and traded more than 4% higher with about half an hour left in the trading session. Cramer believes Tesla plays a bigger role in driving investor sentiment than Apple, which also rebounded from steep losses on Friday. — Yun Li
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With roughly one hour left in the trading session, the 30-stock Dow average managed to claw back into positive territory for the day and erased a 628-point drop. Those gains came as bank shares and Boeing advanced. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also off their session lows. —Fred Imbert

Stocks bounced from their lows of the day in late afternoon trading. The Dow last traded down 85 points, after earlier falling more than 600 points. The S&P 500 was about 0.7% lower while the Nasdaq shed 1.2%. The tech-heavy index fell as much as 5.08% in morning trading amid a broad sell-off in the sector. - Pippa Stevens 

The struggles of tech stocks at the end of the week while travel and bank stocks have held ground or even gained does not necessarily mean we're seeing a rotation into cyclical stocks, said Paul Markham, global equity portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management. Markham said that, for example, the jobs report was better than expected but not enough to change the overall story of the recovery.

"It seems to us that we're probably at a little bit of a hiatus for the tech stocks and those kind of leadership sectors that we've seen for the last period of time ... for the cyclical rotation to push on further, we would have to see an establishment of a trend of improvement which could really lead the market to where it's a cyclical upturn," he said. — Jesse Pound 

Oil prices moved lower as demand concerns weighed on sentiment. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil benchmark, shed $1.51, or 3.65%, to trade at $39.86, while international benchmark Brent crude declined 3% to $42.75 per barrel.

"The weekly price decline exposes how vulnerable the market currently is, having to deal not only with a fragile demand recovery but also with the threat of supply coming back quicker than anticipated due to the mounting economic pressure in OPEC+ economies," said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy.

WTI is down 7% for the week, and on track to snap a four-week winning streak. - Pippa Stevens 

Here are a few of the stocks that were making some of the biggest moves midday:

Tesla — Tesla shares whipsawed in midday trading, trading higher by 0.5% after falling as much as 8.5% and into bear-market territory earlier in the session.

Wayfair — Shares of Wayfair slid 6.5% after Bank of America downgraded the online retailer to neutral from buy.

Moderna — Shares of the pharmaceutical company fell more than 4% after its CEO announced that Moderna was slowing enrollment  in its Phase 3 vaccine trial to ensure a diverse patient pool.

Click here to read more about Friday's midday movers. — Thomas Franck

About three stocks fell for every advancer at the New York Stock Exchange as the broader market sold off for a second day amid another tech plunge. Overall, more than 2,100 NYSE-listed stocks were lower while 769 names traded higher. —Fred Imbert

About three stocks fell for every advancer at the New York Stock Exchange as the broader market sold off for a second day amid another tech plunge. Overall, more than 2,100 NYSE-listed stocks were lower while 769 names traded higher. —Fred Imbert

The major averages were under pressure once again in midday trading as tech stocks continued their sell-off to end the week. The Dow traded more than 500 points lower, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 slid 2.3% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.1%. —Fred Imbert

Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC that the White House and Congress have agreed that a deal to fund the government will not include coronavirus relief programs. The two sides must pass legislation by the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown, leading some to speculate that the relief programs could be packaged in the deal to help bridge the gap on those programs between the Trump administration and Democratic leaders.

"Now, we can focus just on another relief bill, and we're continuing to do that in good faith," Pence told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." 

Separately, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Bloomberg that the Trump administration "can live with" not getting another relief deal, according to Reuters. — Jesse Pound, Jacob Pramuk 106691137

Moderna's CEO said Friday that the pharmaceutical company is slightly slowing the phase three trial for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate to ensure that it enrolls representatives from minority populations. The company said last week that it had enrolled more than 17,000 people in the trial, with 24% being from communities of color.  Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC that the goal was for the enrollment population to mirror U.S. Census Bureau estimates of the country's demographics. The company's shares were down 6.3% on Friday amid the broader market downturn. — Jesse Pound, Meg Tirrell 

CFRA double upgraded Tesla to buy from sell on Friday and said it sees a buying opportunity as shares have come down more than 20% off its highs. " We attribute TSLA's sharp selloff to its $5.0B equity offering, news that TSLA's second-largest shareholder behind Elon Musk has trimmed their stake, and a broader selloff in momentum names," analyst Garrett Nelson said. The firm also raised its price target to $475 from $400. "We think TSLA's risk/reward is now skewed to the upside and importantly, the stock's YTD run-up has greatly reduced its cost of capital and helped strengthen its balance sheet," he said. Shares are down 14% this week and 6% in midday trading. - Michael Bloom

With Tesla shares down another 5.3% on Friday, CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer wasn't too optimistic about chances for a rebound in the electric car maker's stock. Tesla shares, which were trading north of $500 per share on Tuesday, are down more than 20% over three days.

Cramer tweeted about 80 minutes into the trading session with Tesla shares off their intraday lows.

"Let it rally a bit here.. see what can they do... let it try to regroup. But remember, the short-squeeze in Tesla may be over.." — Thomas Franck

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SoftBank reportedly bought billions worth of options tied to tech stocks, fueling the Nasdaq Composite's recent surge to record highs, according to the Financial Times citing people familiar with the matter.

But the tech trade started to unwind on Thursday when the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 5%, with losses accelerating on Friday. 

"The degree of the frenzy of the buying Wednesday was nothing like we've seen in this entire cycle," Julian Emanuel, head of equity and derivatives strategy at BTIG, told CNBC.

"Let's face it. These stocks are very stretched to the upside. It doesn't take much," added Steve Massocca, managing director at Wedbush. "You pull up any of the charts and they're straight up to the moon. It's obvious they're susceptible to selling for selling's sake. I couldn't find a story specific to growth or tech that drove this, but if you just consider these names, they're overbought. It doesn't take much. The wind direction just has to change."

Massocca said the market selling could easily be blamed on computerized and algorithmic trading, since it was so sweeping. - Patti Domm, Pippa Stevens

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield moved higher, as traders focused on a surprising drop in the unemployment rate.

The August employment report showed job creation was slightly better than expected with 1.37 nonfarm payrolls added, but the unemployment rate moved sharply lower to 8.4%, much better than the 9.8% rate expected.

The yield on the 10-year moved higher, to 0.69%, and the yield curve steepened, meaning the distance between the long end of the curve and the short end widened. A steepening curve indicates traders see a strengthening economy.

Bond yields move opposite to the price. 

"It's a strong growth reaction. Higher yields, steeper curve," said John Briggs of NatWest. "I think a lot of it is the unemployment side of it. If you're tightening the labor market that quickly, it should have a negative reaction in the bond market." — Patti Domm

The market losses expanded on Friday morning, with the Dow falling more than 100 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 was down 1.2%, while the Nasdaq dropped 2.8%.  Shares of Apple lost 5%. — Jesse Pound 

Hiring by the federal government for the 2020 Census contributed to a surge in public nonfarm payrolls in August and helped the U.S. economy post 1.37 million jobs for the month. Government added 344,000 jobs in August. Retail trade, which clinched the No. 2 spot in terms of month-over-month payrolls, saw a gain of 249,000 as hiring rebounded at department stores, wholesale clubs and supercenters. — Thomas Franck

While the rout in tech stocks deepened on Friday, classic reopening trades and names sensitive to economy recovery provided the broader market with some support. Shares of cruises, airlines and hotels were mostly in the green. American Airlines, Delta and United all rose more than 1%, while Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and MGM Resorts jumped 2% each. Retailers also traded higher, with Macy's, Kohl's and Target all higher on the day. Meanwhile, financial stocks were the biggest gainers on Friday, boosted by a jump in yields. JPMorgan climbed 3%, and Goldman Sachs and Citigroup both rose 2%. — Yun Li

The Nasdaq's struggles continued on Friday, and the furious rally of the last several months put some high profile stocks well above their Wall Street targets. One of those was Lululemon, which Citi downgraded to hold on Friday while also raising its price target to $400 per share from $340.

"Since March, the stock has surpassed our prior TP, and as we approach earnings with the stock near $400 we have to ask ourselves if we can realistically recommend buying LULU at $400 with a call it can go to at least $460 over the next 12 months. And we just can't do it," Citi said in a note to clients.

See the other Nasdaq stocks with the largest downside according to analysts here. — Jesse Pound 

After briefly turning positive, the Nasdaq Composite once again traded lower, and was last down about 2%. The losses build on Thursday's slide, which saw the sector post its worst day since March. - Pippa Stevens 

After opening in negative territory, major tech stocks reversed course and pulled the Nasdaq Composite into positive territory. The index rose 0.3%, with Apple rising 1.8% and Tesla rising 3%. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Facebook were still down slightly. — Jesse Pound 

• Credit Suisse upgraded Michaels to outperform from neutral.
• Citi downgraded Lululemon to neutral from buy.
• JMP raised its price targt on Peloton to $109 from $59.
• Bank of America downgraded Wayfair to neutral from buy.
• Argus downgraded Baxter to hold from buy.

Pro Subscribers can read more here.- Michael Bloom

After a volatile overnight trading session, stocks rose out of the gate on Friday as the market attempted to claw back some of Thursday's steep losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 176 points, for a gain of 0.6%. The S&P 500 traded 0.23% higher. The Nasdaq Composite, however, declined 0.26% amid continued weakness in shares of the largest technology companies. - Pippa Stevens 

Passenger volume at the Transportation Security Administration is showing signs of a rebound in travel demand. A spokesperson at the TSA said in a tweet that traveler headcounts at the checkpoints across the U.S. reached a total of 877,698 on Thursday, marking the highest level since a pandemic-low in April. — Yun Li

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U.S. stock index futures bounced from their lows of the morning after the better-than-expected jobs report. Futures tied to the Dow last traded about 195 points higher, pointing to a gain of 276 points at the open. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3%. Tech stocks continued to trade in the red, however, and while Nasdaq 100 futures rebounded from the session low, they still shed about 0.6%. - Pippa Stevens

The better-than-expected jobs report sparked a jump in Treasury yields and bank stocks. Bond yields move inverse of price, and banks tend to perform better when yields are high. Shares of JPMorgan rose 2.2% in premarket trading, while Citigroup gained 2% and Wells Fargo climbed 1.6%. — Jesse Pound 

The U.S. economy added 1.37 million jobs in August, ahead of the 1.32 million expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate fell to 8.4%. - Jeff Cox

Popular work-from-home stock DocuSign took a beating during Thursday's sell-off, with shares falling 8.7%. After the bell, the company easily beat Wall Street expectations for its second quarter and raised its guidance above what analysts had penciled in, according to FactSet. However, the stock tumbled 6% in premarket trading anyway. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy, saying there was "no material slowdown in sight" for customer demand but that the stock price already reflected the future growth. — Jesse Pound 

At 8:30 a.m. ET the Labor Department will release jobs data for August, giving investors a read on the economic recovery. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the economy to have added 1.32 million jobs, down from 1.76 million in July. One key metric to watch is the unemployment rate, which is expected to break below 10%. - Patti Domm, Pippa Stevens 

Tech shares were under pressure once again, building on their biggest one-day sell-off in months. Tesla and Apple dropped 5.4% and 3%, respectively. Netflix slid 2.4%. Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft were all down at least 1%. Alphabet shares dipped 0.9%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 tech sector logged its worst day since March, falling 5.83% to drag down the broader market. —Fred Imbert

Russia's vaccine shows 'no serious adverse events,' study says

Russia's coronavirus vaccine shows 'no serious adverse events' and creates antibody response, according to a study published in medical journal The Lancet. The study was for phase one and two trials and looked at 76 patients in total. Russian leaders declared that they had developed a successful vaccine in August, but scientists were skeptical that it would be safe and effective. — Jesse Pound 106690863

Stocks could be headed for further declines if there's a shift in investor attitude, Allianz's chief economist Mohamed El-Erian said Thursday amid markets' worst day sine June.

"We could have another 10% fall, easily ... if people start thinking fundamentals," El-Erian told CNBC. "If the mindset changes from technicals to fundamentals then this market has further to go," he added, "but it remains to be seen whether it will change." - Tyler Clifford

Futures tied to the major U.S. indexes fell from their highs as markets struggled to regain some of Thursday's steep losses.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 25 points, or 0.09%. The move implied an opening gain of about 101 points. S&P 500 futures fell 0.27%.

Tech stocks continued to show weakness and futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slid more than 1.4%. 

Thursday was the tech sector's worst day since March 16 amid a broad market sell-off that saw investors take profits in some of the high-flying FAANG names. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.96%, while the Dow and S&P 500 slid 2.78% and 3.51%, respectively. - Pippa Stevens