US stocks struggle to gain traction, rising bond yields continue to weigh

Major US equity indices opened with modest gains, albeit quickly surrendered early uptick during the opening hour of trade on Friday as investors assessed the latest US monthly jobs report (NFP).

The September jobs report showed that the economy added only 134K jobs, well below the 185K anticipated, while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1969. Meanwhile, average hourly wages rose 0.3% m/m, with the yearly rate coming in at 2.8%.

The market, however, struggled to register any meaningful recovery, especially after yesterday’s steep decline triggered by the ongoing rally in the US Treasury bond yields. Yields continued to rise on Friday, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hitting a fresh seven-year high 3.2309% and dampening investors’ appetite for perceived riskier assets – like equities.  

At the time of writing this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 15-points to 26,613 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 25-points to 7,855. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 Index, so far, managed to hold ground and treaded water near yesterday’s closing level, around 2,902.