Stocks Fall to End Week, Dow Down Triple Digits

The U.S. stock market fell on Friday after the non-farm payrolls figures showed that the economy only added 171,000 jobs in October. While this was ahead of consensus estimates of 125,000, the jobless rate ticked one-tenth of a percentage point higher to 7.9 percent as more people looked for work. In any event, the report was not enough to create enthusiasm for risk on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a little less than 140 points to close at 13,093. The widely watched blue-chip average traded in a range between 13,076 and 13,289.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) fell 0.89 percent to $141.56. Volume was heavier than normal with around 127 million SPY shares trading hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 118.8 million.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, lost 1.07 percent to close at $65.17. The QQQ has added almost 17 percent in 2012, although it remains off of its best levels of the day.

Crude oil was lower on the session as a strong U.S. dollar and falling stock market hurt commodities. NYMEX crude futures lost 2.51 percent to $84.90 while Brent crude contracts fell 2.25 percent to $105.74. The United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSE:USO) lost 2.21 percent and closed the week at $31.35.

Precious metals were also weaker on the day. COMEX Gold futures declined 2.17 percent to $1,678.20 while silver futures fell 4.18 percent to $30.90. The heavily traded SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) registered a loss of 2.10 percent to $162.60.

Government bond prices opened the session lower, but rose throughout the day as the stock market fell. Nevertheless, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT) still recorded a small loss, falling 0.07 percent to $122.27. The yield on the 10-Year Note was basically flat at 1.72 percent.

The U.S. dollar was sharply higher on the session. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, jumped 0.71 percent to $22.08. The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last trading at $1.2826, a loss of 0.92 percent on the day.