Stocks struggle for direction after jobs report as bond yields continue climb
Stocks opened near unchanged Friday as investors assessed September jobs data and kept an eye on a continued climb in U.S. Treasury yields. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% at 2,903.95, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12 points, or less than 0.1%, at 25,639. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.2% to 7,863.09. The U.S. unemployment rate sank to a 48-year low of 3.7% in September, while the economy added a smaller-than-expected 134,000 jobs, a figure that perhaps reflected the effects of Hurricane Florence. Year-over-year wage growth slowed to 2.8% from 2.9%. The data did nothing to dampen expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue on its path of gradual rate rises, economists said.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.