US stocks tumbled broadly Friday, with Caterpillar, American Express and Boeing among the decliners following a disappointing report on US jobs and as Hungary emerged as Europe's latest economic problem.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 323.31 points (3.15%) to 9,931.97, its lowest close since Feb. 8. All of its components were in the red Friday. For the week, the measure declined 2.02%.
Caterpillar was the Dow's worst performer with a tumble of $3.35 (5.5%) to $57.76. American Express also was weak, down $2.1 (5.3%) to $38.41, and Boeing dropped $3.16 (4.9%) to $61.15.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 83.86 (3.64%) to 2,219.17, its lowest close since May 26. It slid 1.68% this week.The Standard & Poor's 500 index slumped 37.95 (3.44%) to 1,064.88, the measure's lowest close since Feb. 8. All of the measures fell, led by industrials.
The declines came after a government report that showed the US economy added jobs in May at the fastest pace in a decade, but the gains were inflated by temporary government hiring for the 2010 Census and were not enough to bring unemployment down much. The gain in nonfarm payrolls was 431,000, weaker than the 515,000 increase economists had expected, and only 41,000 private-sector jobs were added.
Meanwhile, investors grew increasingly concerned about Hungary's economy after a leading official in Hungary's ruling Fidesz party said Thursday that Hungary faces a Greek-like sovereign-debt problem.
United States Steel fell $3.29 (7.3%) to $41.99. Bank of New York Mellon declined $1.28 (4.7%) to $26, after the financial-services company announced the pricing of about 30 million common shares at a price of $27 each, a 1% discount to Thursday's closing price of $27.28. The company had announced its plans to sell the stock after the close Thursday.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton dropped $4.00 (6.28%) to $59.71. Rio Tinto Plc shed $2.48 (5.35%) to $43.88. ResMed lost $1.09 (1.66%) to $64.43. Telstra Corporation dipped 55 cents (4.22%) to $12.47. Telecom Corporation of NZ declined 14 cents (2.2%) to $6.23, and Westpac slid $5.65 (5.83%) to $91.20.
At 7:45 AM (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 3.20% and the five year yield was 1.98%.
European shares fell after Hungary reignited concerns about debt in Europe.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 1.8% to 244.34, wiping out the 1.4% gain of the previous session. Friday's decline pared gains for the week, accumulated over the previous four sessions, to just 0.1%.
European banks and insurers were the worst performers, with shares of Societe Generale surrendering 7.6%, UniCredit trading down 5.4% and Axa sliding 5%.
Austrian financials slumped with Vienna Insurance down 6% and Erste Bank down 9.1%.
Hungary's BUX equities index plunged 3.3% to 21,288.9, while the euro fell sharply to the latest in a string of four-year lows against the dollar. The US dollar was quoted at 0.8382 euros.
Investors were already concerned about the fiscal health of such euro-zone countries as Spain, where shares of banks BBVA and Santander fell again Friday, with both down more than 6%.
The Spanish Ibex 35 index fell 4.2% to 8,889.80.
As for the major regional benchmarks, the direction was uniformly lower. The French CAC-40 index dropped 2.9% to 3,455.61, while the German DAX index sank 1.9% to 5,938.88 and the UK's FTSE 100 index lost 1.6% to 5,126.00.
Rio Tinto slipped 55.00 pence (1.73%) to 3,115.10 pence. BHP Billiton weakened 68.50 pence (3.72%) to 1,778.82 pence.
Asian stock markets were tepid Friday, as investors remained concerned about China's economic growth.
The Tokyo market weakened after briefly rising on news the Democratic Party of Japan elected Naoto Kan as its new party chief.
Exporters ended the session on a mixed note. Sharp Corp. climbed 0.4% and Canon added 0.7% while Toyota Motor shed 0.2% and Nissan Motor fell 1.2%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed down 0.13% to 9,901.19. The Shanghai Composite index ended at 2,553.59 almost unchanged, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was also flat, dropping 0.03% to 19,780.07. South Korea's Kospi Composite ended 0.1% higher, Taiwan's Taiex index fell 0.2%.
New Zealand shares inched to a positive close Friday in light volume as most investors remained sidelined ahead of a holiday weekend.
The benchmark NZX-50 ended up 0.2%, or 6 points, at 3030.14 after shedding 0.6% over the course of the week. Markets will be closed in New Zealand Monday for a public holiday.
Base metals on the London Metals Exchange fell on continuing concerns over global growth. Aluminium fell $73 (3.74%) to $1,880 while copper weakened $290 (4.44%) to $6,240 and nickel dropped $585 (3.14%) to $18,065. Zinc shed $90 (5.16%) to $1,655 and lead lost $45 (2.74%) to $1,595. Comex copper was last quoted at US$2.8125 per pound.
Spot gold was last quoted at $1,219.00. Comex gold futures rose to $1,219.0. Spot silver was last quoted at $17.37.
West Texas Intermediate was last quoted at US$71.51 per barrel.
At 07:45 AM (AEST) the US dollar was quoted at 0.8382 euros, 91.82 yen, 69.40 pence, and 1.218 AUD.