U.S. Stocks Climb Off Worst Levels But Remain Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply lower early in the session, stocks have regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages have climbed off their lows of the session but are currently in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, which tumbled to its lowest intraday level in well over a year in early trading, is down 108.49 points or 0.9 percent at 12,209.20. The Dow is down 196.08 points or 0.6 percent at 32,801.89 and the S&P 500 is down 22.64 points or 0.6 percent at 4,124.23.

The continued weakness on Wall Street comes following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of April.

The report showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 428,000 jobs in April, matching the revised jump seen in March.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 391,000 jobs compared to the addition of 431,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.6 percent versus expectations the rate would edge down to 3.5 percent.

With the report showing continued strength in the labor market, economists predicted the Federal Reserve will continue with its plans to raise interest rates relatively sharply over the coming months.

"Overall, with labor market conditions still this strong - including very rapid wage growth - we doubt that the Fed is going to abandon its hawkish plans because of the current bout of weakness in equities," Ashworth said.

Worries about the outlook for interest rates may be weighing on Wall Street along with a continued increase in treasury yields.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks continue to see significant weakness in afternoon trading, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.4 percent after hitting a two-year intraday low.

Considerable weakness also remains visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index fell to its lowest intraday level in nearly two months earlier in the session.

Brokerage, networking and housing stocks are also seeing notable weakness, adding to the steep losses posted in the previous session.

On the other hand, energy stocks have moved to the upside over the course of the session, benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of crude oil.

With crude for June delivery jumping $2.45 to $110.71 a barrel, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is surging by 2 percent to its best intraday level in over seven years.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 2.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeted by 3.8 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and rose by 0.7 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the sell-off seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.9 basis points at 3.105 percent.