U.S. Stock Market Today: Yields Rise After Jobs Report; Indexes Slip — WSJ

By Katy Barnato and Krystal Hur

Stocks moved lower Friday after a mixed jobs report showed the economy added 143,000 roles in January, slightly lower than forecast.

At the same time, the unemployment rate unexpectedly eased to 4%, wage growth was strong, and additions over the previous two months were revised up by 100,000.

The monthly update is closely watched, since the health of the labor market is a key consideration for the Federal Reserve in setting interest rates. For investors, it also followed a week of tariff drama and a big slate of corporate earnings.

In late morning trading, stocks took a turn lower after Reuters reported that President Trump was planning to announce a new round of tariffs as early as Friday.

Meanwhile, Treasury yields rose as traders ever-so-slightly dialed back rate-cute expectations from the Fed.

Amazon is also in focus Friday, after the e-retailer gave lower-than-expected guidance and-like Microsoft, Google and Meta-doubled down on plans for huge AI-related capital spending. Shares in Amazon fell 4%.

In recent market action:

U.S. stock indexes fell, with the Nasdaq Composite logging the biggest decline at 1.2% and the Dow slipping 0.6%, or 270 points..

Treasury yields rose after the jobs data. Benchmark 10-year yields advanced to about 4.49%, after settling Thursday at 4.437%.

Chinese tech stocks entered a new bull market in Hong Kong, buoyed by the emergence of DeepSeek. PC maker Lenovo and smartphone specialist Xiaomi were among big gainers. Alibaba shares also rose.

Gold futures jumped. The most actively traded gold futures contract touched a new all-time high of $2,906.50 a troy ounce.

Write to Katy Barnato at katy.barnato@wsj.com and Krystal Hur at krystal.hur@wsj.com

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