All three major Wall Street indexes closed lower on Friday with the S&P 500 falling nearly 1 percent for the week, its worst weekly performance in nearly a month. The S&P 500 was weighed down by losses in the tech sector while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was pressured by laggards Intel and Caterpillar. The Dow closed its second consecutive weekly loss. The Nasdaq also struggled as a result of losses in the tech sector, falling 3.2 percent on the week, its steepest weekly loss since March.
The non-farm payroll report released on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 134,000 jobs in September, notably lower than expected gains of 185,000 jobs. Despite missing expectations, the U.S. unemployment rate hit its lowest level since 1969. Wages also increased by 2.8 percent in September, an expected move in light of the tight employment market.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit a high not seen since 2011 of 3.24 percent. The two-year note yield rose to 2.897 percent. Rising yields were helped by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who hinted last week that more rate hikes would be coming.
The dollar weakened on last week’s news, with the dollar index trading 0.16 percent lower to start the week, at 95.60 .DXY. Still, many traders expect this dip to be short-lived as traders seek out the high yields. The U.S. bond market will be closed on Monday for Columbus day, though stock markets will be open for business as usual.