Investing.com - U.S. stocks traded sharply lower Monday, as surprisingly weak non farm payrolls Friday continue to weigh on equity prices.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 1.00%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.00%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.08%.
Igniting the weakness in the equities, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 in March, the lowest since December and well below expectations for a 203,000 increase.
It was the first time since November that hiring failed to top the 200,000 level, renewing concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
The unemployment rate plunged to 8.2%, the lowest since January 2009, from 8.3% in February. However, the data showed that the decline stemmed entirely from people dropping out of the labor force.
The disappointing data cast doubts over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and revived expectations that the Federal Reserve may conduct a third round of monetary easing to bolster growth.
Financials led the decline with Bank of America down 2.9% and JP Morgan falling 2.1%.
European markets are closed today for the Easter holiday.