US stocks fell on Friday, with General Electric, Caterpillar and 3M among the decliners following disappointing reports on US employment and factory orders.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 46.05 points (0.47%) to 9,686.48, its lowest close since Oct. 5, 2009. Friday marked the Dow's seventh-straight session in the red, its longest losing streak since an eight-day run that ended in October 2008.
Last week, the measure fell 4.51%, its biggest weekly drop since the week ended May 7, which included the Flash Crash. The week also represented the Dow's worst five-day performance leading up to July 4 since 1896.
General Electric was the measure's worst performer with a drop of 24 cents (1.7%) to $13.88. The measure's industrial components were also particularly weak, with Caterpillar down 79 cents (1.3%) at $59.18, and 3M off 88 cents (1.1%) at $77.67, weighed down by a decline in US factory orders.
The Nasdaq Composite slipped 9.57 (0.46%) to 2,091.79, its lowest close since Nov. 4. Last week, the measure dropped 5.92%, its second-straight week in the red and worst week since May. Friday marked the Nasdaq's fifth-straight session closing in negative territory, its longest losing streak since March 2009.
The Standard & Poor's 500 declined 4.79 (0.47%) to 1,022.58, its lowest close since Sept. 4 last year. It shed 5.03% last week.
Friday's declines came after the government's job report showed while the jobless rate edged down, it still remains elevated at 9.5%. In addition, nonfarm payrolls fell by 125,000 last month, with only 83,000 private-sector jobs added.
Other data showed that US factory orders declined in May, posting the largest drop in 14 months as transportation related orders tumbled.
Abercrombie & Fitch dropped 80 cents (2.5%) to $31.11, as the teen retailer deals with the frustrating resiliency of bedbugs. The company will reopen its Epic Hollister store in the Manhattan neighbourhood of SoHo on Saturday after exterminating bedbugs there, only to have to close another shop further downtown because of what it initially called a "similar problem."
CIT Group climbed $1.14 (3.4%) to $34.40, after the company named Scott T. Parker, the former finance chief of an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP, as its chief financial officer. Filling the finance position was vital, given CIT's primary challenge after emerging from bankruptcy is righting its funding model. CIT also said it repaid nearly half of its first-lien debt, closed about $2.5bn in new funding facilities and sold about $2.8bn in assets in the first half of this year.
Apple slipped $1.54 (0.6%) to $246.94, after the company acknowledged that all of its iPhones mistakenly inflate their signal strength as criticism mounts over the effectiveness of the wraparound antenna design of the iPhone 4.
Eli Lilly advanced 55 cents (1.7%) to $33.67, after the drug-making giant said it will buy closely held Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company focused on developing treatments for metabolic diseases.
Lincare Holdings tumbled $2.83 (8.9%) to $28.81, following news that Medicare payment rates for its most important product line will fall much steeper than expected.
Joy Global rose $1.07 (2.2%) to $50.84, and Bucyrus International added 79 cents (1.6%) to $48.92. The gains in the mining-equipment companies came after the Australian government announced sweeping changes to its planned new mining tax, making major concessions to the mining industry.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton gained 29 cents (0.46%) to US$62.71, Rio Tinto Plc advanced 7 cents (0.16%) to US$44.33, ResMed climbed $1.56 (2.62%) to US$61.17, Telstra Corporation slid 5 cents (0.38%) to US$13.24, Telecom Corporation of NZ rose 2 cents (0.32%) to US$6.36 and Westpac firmed 81 cents (0.92%) to US$88.51.
In economic news, the US economy shed jobs for the first time this year, likely adding to concerns the pace of the recovery could slow in the second half. Nonfarm payrolls included 225,000 temporary census workers who lost their jobs. Economists expected payrolls to drop 100,000 with a jobless rate of 9.8%.
New orders for US manufactured goods dropped more than expected by 1.4% in May to $413.25bn, as transportation related orders tumbled. Economists expected a 0.8% decline.
At 7:45 AM (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 2.98% and the five year yield was 1.82%.
European shares were unable to hold meagre gains on Friday, ending the day virtually flat as a rebound by carmakers and miners was offset by weakness in the health care and technology sectors.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.03 point to end at 237.20, slightly extending the five-and-a-half week low set on Thursday on worries about the global economic recovery. The index ended the week 4.5% lower.
Autos took back some of the sharp losses made in the previous session with Renault shares up 2.1%. Nissan, which is 44% held by Renault, reported a 10.8% increase in US June sales.
BMW, however, failed to hold on to an earlier gain saying June sales in the US rose 11.9%. BMW ended 0.8% lower.
Miners, also sensitive to economic trends, advanced as copper futures rose and Australia's new government amended its controversial proposed mining tax. Shares of Xstrata climbed 3% and BHP Billiton advanced 1.7%.
In Europe the number of unemployed workers across the 16-nation euro zone ticked higher in May, but the unemployment rate remained at a 12-year peak of 10% for a third consecutive month.
Spanish jobless claims fell by 83,834 in June, down 2.1% on the prior month, the third straight monthly decline. Santander shares rose 0.8% and Barclays, which also has exposure to the country, rose 4.5%.
Of the major regional benchmarks, the UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to settle at 4,838.09, the German DAX index fell 0.4% to 5,834.15 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.3% to 3,348.37.
Asian markets ended mixed in choppy trade as investors remained cautious ahead of the upcoming US jobs data and on deepening concerns of an economic slowdown.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.1%, snapping a five-session losing streak. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%.
New Zealand shares ended slightly higher in light volume with many participants in a cautious mood, although the index pared early gains as the market took a lead from Australia. The NZX-50 Index closed up 0.2%, or 4 points, at 2,938.11. The index was down 3.2% for the week.
Base metals closed higher despite giving up some of their early gains after a mixed jobs report from the US. Aluminium remained unchanged at $1,940 while copper rose $90 (1.42%) to $6,450 and nickel fell $225 (1.17%) to $18,925. Zinc firmed $45 (2.57%) to $1,795 and lead added $30 (1.73%) to $1,760. Comex copper was last quoted at 292.40 US cents per pound.
Gold futures rose fractionally as some thought the previous session's huge slide created bargain opportunities, but most didn't want to place fresh bets ahead of the long weekend. Spot gold was last quoted at $1,211.25. Comex gold futures increased $1.00 (0.08%) to $1,207.70. Spot silver was last quoted at $17.80.
Crude-oil fell for a fifth consecutive day, capping their steepest weekly decline since early May, as disappointing economic data continued to point toward a stalling economic recovery. West Texas Intermediate was last quoted at US$72.14 per barrel.
At 07:45 a.m. (AET) the US dollar was quoted at 0.7962 euros, 87.70 yen, 1.188 AUD and 65.80 pence.