Weak Unemployment Numbers Highlights Negative Day Across The Board

Markets finished firmly in the red near their session lows. Ken Meyers has the latest happenings on Wall Street in Friday's Acadiana Business Index.

The Dow Jones gave up 169 points to 13,038, the S&P 500 shed 22 points to 1369, and the NASDAQ fell 68 points to 2956. For the week, the Dow Jones fell 1.4%, the S&P lost 2.4%, and the NASDAQ posted a decline of 3.7%.
Weak employment data prompted a day of selling on Wall Street. Nonfarm and private payrolls for April both came up significantly short of consensus expectations, overshadowing upward revisions to the March results. On the upside, the unemployment level ticked lower to 8.1%, indicating some improvement in the overall employment picture.
Shares of Apple weighed heavily on the sector after giving up $16.55 to close at $565.05 per share.
Energy shares also posted heavy losses in the session as crude oil fell $4.02 to $98.52. Shares of Chevron shed $2.27 to $103.72 and Exxon finished in the red by $1.08 to $84.57.
On the earnings front, shares of LinkedIn rallied $7.89 to $117.30 after the company posted a better-than-expected quarterly result and raised their full year earnings guidance. In bondland, Treasuries were higher with the 10-year note advancing 15/32 to yield 1.88%.

For the complete report, click Ken's Market Report.