Stock Market Set To Slump After Friday Jobs Report Disappoints

U.S. equity-index benchmarks on Friday retreated after the closely watched jobs report showed that 98,000 jobs were created in March, far below figures the market had anticipated. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56 points, or 0.3% at 20,548, those for the S&P 500 index declined 7 points, or 0.3% at 2,347, while futures for the Nasdaq-100 index declined 12 points, or 0.2%, at 5,410. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast nonfarm payrolls to rise by 185,000 jobs in March, compared with February's gain of 235,000 jobs. In one bright spot from the March employment report from the Labor Department, the unemployment rate fell to 4.5% from 4.7%--its lowest level in a decade. The moves for stocks also come as Wall Street reacts to the U.S.'s Thursday night airstrike in Syria. Investors also are looking to the conclusion of a closely watched summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 14.80 points at 20,662.95, while the S&P 500 index finished up 0.2% at 2,357, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.3% at 5,878.95.

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