US equity indexes declined in midday trading Friday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the economy added less than the expected number of jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose.
The Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.2% to 17,845.2, the S&P 500 dropped 1% to 5,685.4, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.6% lower at 42,273.3. Financials, communications services, and consumer discretionary were the steepest decliners intraday while energy and utilities were the sole gainers.
Powell will deliver a presentation on the "Economic Outlook" to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business at 12:30 pm ET.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The consensus was for a 160,000 increase, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate increased to 4.1% from January's 4%, which was the market view for February.
"Job growth is likely to soften over the coming months, as federal layoffs related to (the Department of Government Efficiency) continue to mount and ongoing trade policy uncertainty helps to weigh on near-term hiring intentions," TD Economics Senior Economist Thomas Feltmate said in a note.
Average hourly earnings grew 0.3% sequentially, the BLS report showed, in line with the Street's view. The year-over-year measure rose 4%, falling short of the 4.1% rise modeled by analysts.
"Financial markets have become increasingly concerned about slowing growth prospects in recent weeks, with fed futures now fully pricing for three (25-basis-point) rate cuts by year-end," according to Feltmate. "However, the (Fed) is unlikely to be swayed by the recent market volatility," particularly amid potential fiscal policy changes that could further add to "still elevated inflationary pressures," he added.
Most US Treasury yields fell intraday, with the 10-year down 4.6 basis points to 4.24% and the two-year rate 5.1 basis points lower at 3.91%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures jumped 1.1% to $67.11 a barrel.