Stocks fell sharply Friday lead by the Nasdaq, which posted its second weekly loss and its worst fall in two months. Shares of technology and consumer companies had the steepest declines although nine out of 10 of the industry sectors in the S&P 500 were lower for the day. Utilities were the only gainers, extending their 2014 advance.
Jobs
Equities began the session with moderate gains after new jobs data showed a rebound in hiring last month, with U.S. employers adding 192,000 new working during March, the Labor Department reported Friday. The nation's unemployment rate remained steady at 6.7%, with a surge in new job-seekers entering the market offsetting the rise in hiring.
The payrolls report Friday also showed an uptick in worker hours, with the average workweek climbing by 12 minutes to 34.5 hours last month.
Commodities
Crude oil for May delivery settled 85 cents higher at $101.14 per barrel while May natural gas fell 3 cents to finish at $4.44 per 1 million BTU. June gold rose $18.80 to $1303.40 per ounce while May silver added 18 cents to $19.97 per ounce. May copper was down a penny to $3.03 per pound.
Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Index down 159.84 (-0.96%) to 16412.71
- S&P 500 down 23.68 (-1.25%) to 1865.095
- Nasdaq Composite Index down 110.01 (-2.60%) to 4,127.73
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 6,695.55
- Hang Seng Index was down 0.2% at 22,510.08
- Shanghai China Composite Index was up 0.19% at 10.79
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) DSKX, (6.52%) Q4 net loss narrows as sales improve following internal restructuring.
- (+) ATRM, (+5%) Acquires substantially all of the assets of KBS Building Systems Inc. along with affiliated entities.
- (+) FLSR, (+1.8%) First Solar's price target raised to $24 at Citi Group.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) GPN, (-4.10%) Reports mixed Q3 results; raises FY14 earnings guidance.
- (-) CREG, (-5.57%) COO resigns, effective March 31.
- (-) (OPTT) (-22.11%) Prices public offering of 3.8 mln shares at $3.10 each, an 18% discount to the stock's Thursday closing price.
After Hours Stock News From Midnight Trader.
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