Why is the Block share price in free fall today?

The Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price is falling hard on Monday, down 6.2% in morning trade.

Block shares closed on Friday trading for $94.94 and are currently trading for $89.07 apiece.

So, what’s driving today’s sell-off of the global buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock?

Why the big sell-off?

There are two primary drivers pushing the Block share price lower today.

And both stem from the United States.

First, Block is dual-listed, on the ASX and the NYSE. The global payments company started trading on the ASX on 20 January this year after acquiring Afterpay.

As you’d expect, shares on the ASX trade in close correlation with those on the NYSE. And on Friday the Block share price tumbled 7.3% in the US markets.

Which brings us to the second factor putting the company under renewed pressure today. The same reason Block tumbled on the NYSE.

Namely, a surprisingly strong labour market in the US.

The September jobs report saw the world’s largest economy add more jobs than consensus expectations, driving the unemployment rate down to 3.5%. That’s the lowest unemployment rate recorded in the US in half a century. Alongside the tight labour market, wages are marching higher, up some 5% year on year.

You might think a strong US labour market and rising wages would be something to celebrate, particularly for investors in a BNPL stock. But that’s not the case in markets that rise and fall in lockstep with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate intentions.

Rising wages and low unemployment have again upped the odds that the Fed will continue to tighten aggressively. Which, alongside the tumbling Block share price, saw the tech heavy NASDAQ fall a precipitous 3.8% on Friday.

Block share price snapshot

With today’s intraday falls factored in, the Block share price is down 50.7% since listing on the ASX on 20 January.

For some context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 12.1% over that same period.

The post Why is the Block share price in free fall today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Are ASX 200 tech shares staging a comeback?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here’s why the Block share price is jumping 9% today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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