New York

US stocks fell at the open on Friday due to disappointing earnings reports from blue-chip companies and as a robust US jobs report boosted bond yields and bolstered expectations that the pace of interest rates hikes could pick up.

All 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lower and ten of the 11 major S&P sectors fell, led by the energy index’s 1.83 per cent decline.

A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs in January, above the 180,000 rise expected by economists surveyed by Reuters. The unemployment rate stayed unchanged at a 17-year low of 4.1 per cent.

At 9:37am. ET (1437 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 218.19 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 25,968.52.

The S&P 500 was down 17.47 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 2,804.51 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 27.19 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 7,358.68.

The CBOE Volatility Index, the most widely followed gauge for investors’ fear of stock market volatility, rose to 14.39, after having fallen in the previous two sessions.

After the payrolls data, traders boosted bets that the US. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates three times this year, with a hike next month seen as a near certainty. But fast-rising wages could prompt more aggressive action to keep a lid on inflation pressure.

“The market had coalesced around expectations for three rate hikes this year,” said Michael Antonelli, managing director at institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird.

“Slightly hawkish comments and wage hikes will make it four. What is good for the average American worker ends up being negative for stocks because it increases the odds of further rate hikes.”

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields extended their rise after the payrolls data and jumped to more than 2.818 per cent, its highest level since early 2014.

Adding to the pressure were disappointing earnings reports from major companies.

Shares of oil majors Exxon and Chevron were down 4.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, after they both posted lower-than-expected quarterly profits.

Google-parent Alphabet fell 4.5 per cent after the company’s quarterly profit missed analysts’ estimates.

Apple shares initially struggled for direction before falling 1.4 per cent as investors gave more credence to the company’s muted forecast than strong iPhone prices and cash plans.

One bright spot was Amazon.com, which rose 6 per cent after the online retailer reported a record profit of near $2 billion, helped by a rise in sales and tax law changes.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,404 to 298. On the Nasdaq, 1,939 issues fell and 481 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 12 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 20 new highs and 32 new lows.